The Proposal
by iloveyoucalzona
Summary: The Proposal except it's gay and Calzona. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: _The Proposal_ except it's gay and Calzona. Please don't get mad at me for plagiarizing. I'm not taking credit for anything. I just changed it to fit Calzona.**

* * *

Callie's morning began like every other: she woke up at 5:15 a.m., grabbed the manuscript that lay beside her bed, and hopped on her treadmill. There, she ran for an hour and got an adequate amount of work done before most people's days even started. Then, she showered for approximately eight minutes while her steel-cut oats finished cooking, ate breakfast while flipping through the _New York Times_ , and then stalked to work in her four-inch Louboutins, pushing past any pedestrians who dared get in her way.

Arizona's morning likewise began like every other: she woke up at 6:30 a.m. to the sound of her alarm going off, snoozed until it sounded again twenty minutes later, and then rushed through her morning routine. She ran through the busy Seattle streets toward Starbucks, praying that Mark was working.

She was in luck, and the man waved her over.

"Robbins!"

Arizona heaved a sigh of relief. She hurried to the counter, ignoring the irritated looks of all the businesspeople running just as late as she was.

Mark grinned. "Two large coffees with Sweet & Low and almond milk."

Arizona smiled back. "Thank you," she panted. "You're a lifesaver."

The man's eyes salaciously followed her retreating form as Arizona hurried out the door. As she crossed the busy street, heading toward the high-rise where she worked, she felt coffee spill from one of the cardboard cups and scorch her hand, but she ignored the pain. She was running _late_.

When the elevator stopped on the top floor and the doors opened, she immediately pushed forward without looking. So, she didn't see an intern simultaneously pushing forward to get _onto_ the elevator until it was too late, and they ran right into each other, effectively spilling hot coffee all over Arizona's white button-down.

"Oh my god," Jo panicked. "Arizona, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you. I…" The girl twirled in a circle as she searched the vicinity for napkins. "I-"

Arizona forced herself to slow her breathing, knowing that, if she wasn't careful, she would explode. And, as useless as Jo was, Arizona didn't think she deserved her wrath. She didn't have time to give into her anger, anyway.

So, instead of giving the girl a lecture on the importance of letting people out of the elevator _first_ , Arizona pushed past her, realizing that there was now one more thing on her to-do list.

"Alex." Arizona nodded toward her friend as she headed to his cubicle.

"What?" Alex asked, not looking up from his computer.

"Give me your shirt."

That caught his attention. " _What_?" he laughed.

"Well, look at me!" Arizona gestured toward her shirt. "I'd ask Teddy, but she's not in today. So I'm asking you. Give me your shirt."

"Dude, no way!" Alex argued. "What would I wear?"

"Your undershirt. I don't really care. Please. I'll give you two tickets to the Seahawks. In the charter section."

"You're kidding," Alex deadpanned, but Arizona saw that he was ready to cave.

She looked toward the door. "You have three seconds."

And, thankfully, that was all the time they needed for their little trade to go through, because about twenty seconds later, Callie walked through the door.

As Arizona attempted to tuck the large men's shirt into her skirt as best she could, she offered a little nod toward the door. "She-Devil at one o'clock. Better get busy." And with that, she bounded into her boss's office with the one coffee that remained in hand and only a moment to spare.

"Good morning, boss," she smiled as Callie walked into the room and grabbed the coffee from her hand. "You have a meeting with Ellis in half an hour, and publicity wants to talk to you at two about Virginia Dixon."

Callie sat down at her desk. "What about her?"

"Well, her book's coming out, and she hasn't been willing to do any interviews…"

"Oh, yes she has," Callie corrected her assistant, looking at her for the first time. "I called her this morning. She's doing _Oprah_."

"Wow." Arizona's eyebrows flew up. She was impressed. Everyone in the publication field knew that Virginia Dixon was an incredible writer but never willing to publicize her novels; calling her "antisocial" was an understatement. She wondered how Callie had managed to get her way.

"Oh, and your immigration lawyer called and said to call him back as soon a-"

"Tell him I'm busy," Callie commanded, shuffling papers at her desk. "And cancel the meeting with publicity. I did their job for them. _Again_."

Arizona nodded, always obedient and quick to catch on. She headed for the door, but then the sound of Callie's voice stopped her.

"Um. Who's Mark? And why does he want me to _call him_?" Callie raised her eyebrows, giving the blonde an expectant look.

Arizona looked down. "Well, that was originally my coffee."

"And why am I drinking your coffee?" Callie pressed.

"Because your coffee spilled."

"Ah." Callie slowly took a sip, and Arizona stood still, her eyes shifting as she awaited the certain humiliation that would follow.

"So you drink coffee with two packets of Sweet & Low and almond milk?" Callie wondered. The coffee tasted exactly like hers.

Arizona nodded. "I do."

Callie stared at her. "Is that a coincidence?"

Arizona nodded, lying, "Absolutely." Then, before she could again attempt to make her escape, Callie's voice stopped her.

"And Arizona?" she began, not even bothering to look up from what she was writing. "The next time you decide it's a good idea to wear your boyfriend's shirt to work, maybe you should reconsider."

Arizona bit her tongue, as she often did, knowing better than to correct her boss. The last person who had tried to correct Callie Torres now worked as a waitress at the diner on the corner. Then again, Penny Blake never had been too good of an editor, anyway.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Ms. Torres?"

"Yes, actually." Callie took another sip of coffee. "We have a meeting with Bob in five minutes. That gives you enough time to get to the restroom and try to tuck in that cheap polyester button-down a little bit better."

But, as Arizona exited her boss's office, she instead hurried to her own cubicle and jiggled her mouse, bringing her computer to life. Quickly, she typed, _IT'S ON THE MOVE_ , giving her coworkers a few critical moments of emotional preparation. _Then_ she adjusted her shirt, as she watched people read her instant message and their eyes widen with fear. The cheerful buzz quickly subsided to silence as everyone returned to what they were supposed to be doing.

Callie began walking towards Robert Stark's office, and Arizona had to run to catch up to her. "Hey. So, um-"

Callie inclined her head as she took a sip of coffee. "Spit it out, Arizona."

"I, um, was wondering what you thought of that manuscript I left on your desk?" Arizona continued. "I think it has some real promise, and-"

Callie made a face. "I didn't like it."

Arizona held her ground. "Did you read the whole thing? I know it obviously needs work, but there's something in there that feels really special."

They stopped outside Stark's door, and Arizona knew the conversation was over—at least for the time being.

Callie strode into the office with Arizona trailing behind her.

"Torres," the small, often unpleasant man gruffed.

"Hey, Bob."

"Please, come in. Make yourself at home," he sneered, not even looking toward Arizona.

Callie crossed her arms. "We need to talk."

Stark raised his eyebrows. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, actually…" Callie paused. "We're letting you go."

A beat. Then, incredulous: "Excuse me?"

Nonchalantly—as if she wasn't firing a man who'd been an editor for a decade longer than she had—Callie continued, "I told you to get Yang to publish with us, but she wanted Random House, instead."

Feeling awkward, Arizona backed toward the door, knowing the conversation had nothing to do with her—and being thankful for that.

"Random House is the top publisher in the nation," Stark defended. "What was I supposed to do? They offered her a better contract. There was no way she'd choose us over them."

"Then explain why I just called her this morning, and she's agreed to sign with us."

Stark's eyes widened. So did Arizona's.

"You let me down, Bob," Callie sighed. "But I'm going to be nice. I won't tell Ellis yet. You can find another job and then 'resign.' Okay?"

With that, she and Arizona left the room—though Callie knew what was coming. She had known Stark for a long time, so she was familiar with his temper.

She heard the sound of his office door open. "Just keep walking," she whispered—more to herself than to Arizona.

"YOU POISONOUS BITCH," Stark bellowed, and everyone in the room turned to look at him—Callie and Arizona included. "Do you really think you can storm into my office, fire me, and humiliate me publicly?"

"Bob…" Callie warned.

"I see through your charade," he continued. "You've always been threatened by me. You're pathetic. You're a monster." He turned and smiled at his coworkers, obviously pleased with his own bravery.

"Bob, stop…" Callie tried again, always keeping her cool.

"Just because you have no life outside this job doesn't mean you can treat us like crap. It's not our fault that you're going to die sad and alone. It's yours."

And then, in a quiet voice—never needing volume to command a room—Callie countered, "Listen, Bob. I'm firing you not because I'm 'a monster' but because you're self-righteous, arrogant, and not nearly as good at your job as you think you are. And if you say even one more word, Arizona here will call security and stand back and laugh while they throw you out on your ass. Then she'll blog about it."

Arizona took a step back, distancing herself from the drama.

Stark was stunned into silence.

Satisfied with herself, Callie's lips quirked up. "Now," she concluded, "I have work to do."

As she and Arizona turned and walked away, Callie said to her assistant, "He's done for. But there's going to be a lot more work for us this weekend with him gone. I'm going to need you to be available."

"What, _this_ weekend?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

"Uh, well, I was supposed to go home this weekend for my uncle's 65th birthday. My parents are throwing him a big bash…"

Callie didn't even look at her, obviously bored.

"But it's fine," Arizona lied. "I'll just call them and say I can't. It's fine."

"Great," Callie quipped and walked away.

* * *

"Mom, I'm sorry," Arizona sighed, worrying the coiled phone cord between her fingers. "Look, I know I promised him I'd be there, but I can't go anymore. I've worked hard for this promotion, and I don't want to screw it up now."

She heard heels clacking down the hall and lowered her voice.

"Fine, Dad's mad. But Dad's always mad. Tell him I'm sorry, okay?"

Th clacking sound intensified, and Arizona quickly changed her tone, pretending it was a work-related call. "Thank you so much for that feedback, ma'am. We'll get back to you as soon as we can. Bye." She hung up the phone and turned toward her boss.

"Was that your mom?" Callie asked knowingly.

"Yes," Arizona admitted.

"Did she tell you to quit?"

Arizona sighed. "Daily."

Stephanie, an intern, tentatively stood by Arizona's cubicle, fearful of interrupting. "Um, Ms. Torres?"

Callie turned to her. "What?"

"Ellis just informed me that she needs you in her office," the girl said.

"Ugh." Callie kept her eyes on Arizona. "I don't have time for this today. Come get me in fifteen minutes," she instructed. "We have a lot to do."

Arizona nodded. "Will do."

Callie strode into Ellis's office and smiled at her boss. "Ellis."

Ellis looked up from her work. "Callie. Congratulations on the _Oprah_ thing. And on Yang. This is why I keep you around."

Callie's smile widened at the praise. "Thank you. Now, what's this about?"

Ellis cleared her throat. "Callie," she exhaled. "Do you remember when I insisted that you not go to the conference in London last month because you couldn't leave the country while your visa was being processed?"

Callie nodded. "Yes, I do."

"And you went to London, anyway."

"Well, I had to," Callie defended. "J.K. is writing another book, and we want her to publish with us. I had no other choice."

"Right, well…" Ellis paused. "I just got off the phone with your immigration attorney."

"Oh! Great. We're all good, then?"

"No. Callie, your visa application has been denied-"

"What?"

Ellis met her eyes. "And you are being deported."

Callie's eyes bulged. " _Deported_?"

"He said that you also failed to complete some paper work on time."

"This has to be some sort of mistake," Callie laughed. "I mean, I'm not even a real immigrant. I'm from Canada! And I've lived here for over ten years! We have to do something. I mean, there has to be something-"

"There is," Ellis reassured her. "We're going to reapply. But you'll need to leave the country for at least a year."

"Okay…" Callie was in problem-solving mode, attempting to think of a solution. "Well, that's not _ideal_ , but I can manage everything from Vancouver. We'll have email, video conferencing…"

Ellis shook her head. "Callie, you can't work for an American company if you're deported. So, until we resolve this, I'm turning everything over to Bob Stark."

"You're joking."

"We need a veteran employee to work as editor-in-chief. He's one of the oldest we have."

"I just fired him!"

Ellis released a tired breath. "We want you to stay, Callie. You're the best there is. If there were any solution, we'd make it work."

"Ellis, come o-"

Suddenly, the door opened, and Arizona came in with her punctual interruption. "Hi. I'm so sorry to interrupt. Ms. Torres, Meredith is on line-two and says she needs to speak with you. I told her you were in a meeting, but-"

"I know, I know," Callie sighed, recognizing that the woman was often hard to say no to.

"Should I just…" Arizona trailed off, feeling something in the air shift as Callie began to stare at her with a strange intensity. Her confusion increased as Callie motioned her inside.

Hesitantly, Arizona walked forward, closing the door behind her.

Callie turned back toward her boss. "Ellis, I understand our predicament and, um. I think there's something you should know." She backed up to stand beside Arizona. "We, um." She tried to smile. "We're getting married."

Arizona's eyebrows furrowed. "Who's getting married?"

"You and I." Callie insisted. "You and I are getting married."

And, even though Arizona had _no idea_ what was going on, she knew to follow Callie's lead. That was her job. So, she confirmed, "We are. We're getting married."

Ellis's eyes widened in surprise. "You're marrying your assistant?"

"Executive assistant," Callie corrected.

Ellis still looked dubious.

"Look, I know it's kind of unorthodox," Callie defended. "It's unexpected for us, too. We weren't supposed to fall in love, but with all those late nights and book fairs, something...happened."

"Something…" Arizona was having an out of body experience. What exactly was going on?

"We couldn't fight it," Callie insisted. She raised her arm, awkwardly wrapping it around Arizona's waist. "We were just meant to be."

"Wow." Ellis was speechless.

"Right, so, um, are you good…with this?" Callie asked. "I mean, is this a good solution? Are you happy? Because we're… _so_ happy." She smiled, looking half-crazed.

"Yes. Yes! It's wonderful news. Congratulations," Ellis grinned. "Just make it legal, huh?"

"Right." Callie nodded, perhaps one too many times. "Of course. I guess it's time for us to get married. No time like the present. Right." She cringed internally, worrying that her act wasn't convincing. "Thank you, ma'am. Thank you."

Arizona offered a grateful nod of her own. "Thank you, ma'am," she seconded.

By the time they stepped out of Ellis's office, Arizona could tell that everyone had already heard the news. She felt the eyes that followed them. She met Alex's flabbergasted expression from across the room and quickly averted her eyes, knowing how easily her face would give away the truth. Instead, she followed her boss to her office in silence and closed the glass office-door behind them.

Inside, Callie sat at her desk and began reading a manuscript, while Arizona stood over her, waiting for an explanation. When none came, she cleared her throat. "Ms. Torres."

Callie looked up. "What is it?" she asked, as if she had already forgotten what had just transgressed.

"What's happening?"

"Oh, relax."

" _Relax_?"

"They were going to make Bob editor-in-chief," Callie explained.

"So…I have to marry you?"

"What's the problem?" Callie asked. "Oh. Is it that I'm a woman? We're in Seattle, for crying out loud. It's not a big deal."

"That's…not it." Arizona closed her eyes, attempting to make sense of the situation. "I just-"

" _What_?" Callie snapped.

"I'm not going to marry you."

"Sure you are," Callie informed her. "Because, if you don't, Bob will fire you, you'll be unemployed, and then everything you worked for will have been for nothing, and you'll have to start from scratch if you ever dream of becoming an editor."

Arizona's mouth fell open as she heard the truth in Callie's words, and her boss continued, "Don't worry. In a few years, we'll get a divorce and you'll never have to see me again. But, until then, if I'm gone, you're gone. You're stuck with me. Got it?"

* * *

Arizona knew she shouldn't have been surprised that Callie cut everyone in line at the immigration office, but somehow she was.

"Ms. Torres, there's a line."

Callie waved her assistant off and focused her attention on the tired-looking clerk at the front desk. "File this fiancé visa for me, please."

The office worker sighed. "Please, come with me."

They made their way to a small office and sat down in the two chairs that faced the desk. Callie began answering emails on her iPhone, and Arizona looked around the room with a sinking feeling in her chest.

"I'm going to go to jail. I can feel it."

"You're not going to jail," Callie assured her. "It'll be fine. We just have to meet this lady, play nice for a few minutes, and then we'll be married and divorced in no time."

A second later, the door opened, and a small, squat woman walked in. "Hello. I'm Miranda Bailey. And you are…"

"Callie Torres," Callie smiled.

Arizona gulped. "Arizona Robbins."

"Pleased to meet you."

Callie smiled angelically. "Thank you so much for meeting with us on such short notice."

Bailey sat down at her desk and flipped through the file her coworker had given her. "So," she began. "I have a question for you both."

Callie and Arizona waited.

The woman looked up. "Are you two committing fraud to avoid Ms. Torres's deportation so she can keep her position as editor in chief?"

Callie and Arizona looked horrified, but they hoped Bailey would think it was more out of disgust than the fact that she was right.

"What?" Callie asked innocently. "Where did you hear that?"

"We got a phone tip this afternoon from a man-"

"Oh." Callie rolled her eyes. "Was it from Robert Stark?"

"Stark. Exactly."

"I'm so sorry about that." Callie shook her head in pity. "Bob is only an unhappy former employee. A curmudgeon, really. And maybe a little jealous. You know, he's always had a thing for younger women."

Arizona rolled her eyes. How in the world was she supposed to _marry_ this woman?

"We know you're very busy," Callie continued. "If you could just sign those papers, we'll be out of your hair."

"Ms. Torres," Bailey offered a condescending smile, "let me tell you how I do things here. First, I'll put you each in a room, and I'll ask you every little question that a _real_ couple would know about each other. Step two: I dig deeper. I look at your phone records, I talk to your neighbors, I interview your coworkers. If your answers don't match up at every point, you," she pointed to Callie, "will be deported indefinitely, and you, young lady," she pointed to Arizona, "will have committed a penalty, punishable by a fine of $250,000 dollars and a stay of five years in federal prison."

Arizona's eyes widened in fear.

"So, Arizona," Bailey prompted, "is there anything you want to say?"

Arizona shook her head. "The truth is…" She cleared her throat. "Ms. Bailey, the truth is that…Callie and I are just meant to be together."

Callie nodded in agreement.

"We weren't supposed to fall in love, but we did," Arizona continued. "And we couldn't tell anyone we work with because of my big promotion coming up."

"Promotion?" Bailey and Callie wondered simultaneously.

"Yeah," Arizona breathed, feeling a little excited about her newfound power. "Callie and I thought it would be inappropriate to announce our relationship with her plans to promote me to editor."

"So…have you told your families about your secret relationship?"

"Oh, I would, but I, uh, don't speak to mine. And my father's dead." Callie tried to chuckle, working to swallow her pain.

Bailey gave Callie a sad smile, then she turned her attention to Arizona. "What about you? Are you estranged from your parents, too?"

"No," Callie answered for Arizona—using the limited knowledge she had of the woman to attempt to trick the immigration official. "Arizona's very close to her parents. We're actually planning on telling them this weekend."

Arizona turned toward her boss in surprise.

"It's her uncle's birthday, and there's going to be a big birthday bash. We thought it'd be a nice surprise."

"And where will this birthday bash take place?"

"At, um, Arizona's parents' house."

Bailey leaned forward. "And where is that?" she pressed.

Callie pursed her lips and looked at Arizona. "I'm so sorry. I'm doing all the talking. You can tell her...sweetie. You go for it. Just jump in."

"Of course," Arizona nodded ironically. She faced the official. "Fairhope."

"Fairhope," Callie seconded with a nod.

"Alabama."

"Alabama." Callie couldn't control the way her face scrunched up in disgust. _Alabama_? Really?

"You're going to Alabama this weekend?" Bailey asked, unconvinced.

"Yes, we are," Arizona smiled.

"Yes," Callie seconded. "That's where, um. That's where my Arizona's from." She reached for Arizona's hand and patted it gently.

"Okay," Bailey chuckled. "I see that you two are not going to make this easy for me. I'll see you Monday morning, then, for your individual interviews."

"Sounds great," Arizona lied.

"Great," Callie added distractedly as her phone began to ring. She hurried to answer it. "Cristina!"

"I'm looking forward to this one," Bailey confided in Arizona, and the blonde saw a mischievous twinkle in the woman's eyes. Clearly, she didn't believe their story one bit.

"Me, too," the blonde fibbed. "We'll see you on Monday." She hurried to open the door for Callie, and then they hurried outside.

* * *

"Okay," Callie decided. "So here's what we're going to do. We'll fly down there—upgrade us to first-class, will you? You can use my miles—and then we'll tell them we're getting married, make a big announcement, and-"

"Excuse me," Arizona interrupted. "Were you not in that room?"

"What? Oh, are you talking about that thing you said about the promotion? Brilliant. She totally bought it."

"I meant it," Arizona insisted. "I'm looking at potential jail time. And a fine of hundreds of thousands of dollars."

"There's no way I'm promoting you to editor."

"Then I quit," Arizona shrugged. "Good luck with everything, Ms. Torres. Hope it works out." She turned to go.

"Arizona!" Callie called after her. "No. Wait! _Fine_ ," she surrendered. "Fine. If you do this for me, I'll make you editor."

"Right away. Not five years from now."

"Fine."

"And we'll tell my family about us on my terms, when I think the time is right. Deal?"

" _Fine_. Deal."

"Good," Arizona quipped. "Now..." She offered a wicked little grin.

Callie crossed her arms. "What now?"

Arizona's smile widened. "Aren't you going to propose?"

"You're not serious," Callie deadpanned. Arizona's expression didn't change, so Callie continued, "You are serious."

Arizona nodded. "It seems only right."

"Do I have to get down on one knee?"

Arizona made a face. "Something tells me that your skirt would rip if you tried."

Callie sighed in relief. At least she could forgo a little embarrassment. "Okay. Arizona, will you marry me?"

"No. Not with that attitude. More feeling."

Callie looked around self-consciously, fearful that someone on the busy sidewalk might overhear their interaction.

"Arizona. Amazing, wonderful Arizona," she continued sarcastically.

"Yes?"

"Would you please do me the honor of being my wife?"

Arizona scrunched up her nose, pretending to mull over the offer as she let Callie sweat. "Okay," she finally accepted. "I'll see you at the airport tomorrow morning."

And, with that, she walked away, feeling more strength than she'd felt in a long time.

* * *

"So," Arizona prompted from the plane the next morning. "Here are the questions INS is going to ask us on Monday. The good news is that I know everything about you, but the bad news is you only have four days to learn all this about me, so-"

Callie grabbed the binder from her assistant's hands, flipping through it herself. "You know all these answers?"

"Scary, huh?" Arizona smirked, without a hint of humor.

"What's my favorite color?" Callie tested her.

"Black," Arizona said without hesitation. "Or, if black doesn't count as a color but only as the absence of visible light, then red."

"Hmm." Callie was obviously impressed, but she didn't comment on it. "Okay. What am I allergic to?"

"Mustard seed," Arizona answered easily. "And, you know, human kindness."

"Ha. Very funny." Callie kept flipping. "Okay, how about this: Do I have any siblings?" There was no way Arizona could know that.

"A sister. I think she's older. She leaves messages on your answering machine on your birthday and Christmas, but you never call her back. Why don't you call her back?"

Callie inhaled a deep breath. "That doesn't matter."

Arizona stared at her. "You know Bailey's going to ask. You're going to have to tell me."

"We're done with that question. Onto the next. What TV shows do I like?"

"American Bake Off."

Callie turned to the blonde in surprise. "How did you know _that_?"

Arizona shrugged. "I figured it out. You never answer calls or emails on Tuesdays from 8-9pm. And, for the record, I like it, too."

"Impressive detecting skills. Maybe your real calling is to be a P.I."

"Ms. Torr-"

" _Callie_ ," Callie corrected her. If they were going to get married, they at least needed to be on a first-name basis first.

" _Callie_. If we're going to pretend that we love each other, you're going to have to start being nicer to me. Otherwise, my family's never going to buy it."

"Speaking of your family…" Callie began slowly. "Is this…going to be a problem?" she asked a little uneasily. She had never been to Alabama before, and part of her was a little fearful. Not that she'd ever admit it.

"Is what going to be a problem?" Arizona asked, confused.

"I mean, coming out is hard," Callie began slowly. "Even if we're just pretending, aren't you worried that your parents will…"

"Oh." Arizona laughed a little. "That's, um. That's not going to be a problem."

"Are you sure?" Callie pressed. "Sometimes, people think their families will be okay with it, but…"

"You really don't know anything about me, do you?"

Callie's eyes widened. She wasn't used to Arizona being anything but her quiet, obedient assistant. Seeing her like this was different.

"I know you have to fake marry me—a woman—because you have no one else in your life you can trust. No man would do it for you because you don't have a man you can blackmail."

Callie sniffed. It was harsh, but it was the truth. She only had Arizona. Her trusty little assistant.

"But my family has known I'm gay since I was about twelve years old."

Callie's mouth fell agape, and she hurried to close it. She'd had no idea that Arizona liked girls, too.

"My parents aren't going to be disgusted that I'm with a _woman_ ," Arizona continued. "But they might be disgusted that I'm with you."

They spent the rest of the flight in silence, with Callie looking out the window and Arizona studying the INS questions.

When they finally landed on the short runway, Arizona caught sight of her family as she got off the plane. "There they are."

Callie followed Arizona's eyes, catching sight of a woman with wild blonde hair, a tall white man, and a black man by his side holding a big WELCOME HOME sign.

" _That's_ your family?"

"Yeah." Arizona smiled as she began trekking toward the people she loved. "My mom, my dad, and Uncle Richard."

This time, it was Callie who trailed behind as Arizona hurried into her mother's arms. "Mom!" she exclaimed. "It's so good to see you."

"Arizona!" Barbara squeezed her daughter tight. "My beautiful girl! We missed you so much."

Arizona pulled back and turned to her father. "Dad."

Daniel nodded at her, awkward and stiff, as always. "Darlin'. It's good to see you."

"Oh, Daniel," Richard chided, "if you're not going to hug her then I sure will." He opened his arms to the woman he'd come to consider his daughter. "Come here, kid."

Arizona grinned and fell into his arms. "Richard! Happy birthday!"

"Oh, my birthday isn't for two more days. But it sure feels like a celebration with you here!"

Arizona dimpled and stood back to look at them. It had been years since she had visited last, and she worried about her little family. She looked for any signs of strain or sleeplessness in their faces but, thankfully, she saw only excitement.

"Now, where's your girl?" Richard asked. "Let's see her."

"Oh. Right," Arizona remembered. She motioned toward the woman standing a few feet behind her.

"Mom, Dad, Richard, this is Callie Torres," Arizona tried to smile.

"The word 'girl' seems inappropriate," Daniel commented.

Barbara moved toward the brunette, looking for a hug, but Callie took a step back and extended her hand instead. "Hello."

Barbara lowered her arms, and her smile fell. "Hi, Callie. Such a pleasure to meet you." She took Callie's proffered hand. "I'm Mrs. Robbins. Or Barbara to my friends, who I hope is everyone!" She laughed.

Callie did her best to laugh along with the woman. "Ha ha. Nice to meet you."

"And this is my Dad."

Daniel took Callie's hand and gave it a firm shake. "Colonel Daniel Robbins. You can call me The Colonel."

Unsure, Callie found Arizona's eyes. _Was he serious_?

Arizona offered a tiny nod, and Callie turned back to the stern man. "Nice to meet you, The Colonel, sir." _Sooo, he's terrifying_ , she decided.

"And I'm Richard Webber," Richard introduced himself, taking Callie's hand in both of his. "I'm Arizona's uncle—by love, not by blood."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Callie smiled.

"Now," he wondered, still holding her hand, "Do you prefer being called 'Callie' or 'ruler of all that is evil'? We've heard it both ways."

Callie's smile faltered.

"He's kidding, sweetheart," Barbara lied.

"Oh. Right. Um. Thank you so much for allowing me to be part of your birthday."

"We're thrilled to have you," Richard insisted.

"It's true," Barbara promised. "It's been a long time since Arizona's come home."

"Mom…" Arizona warned.

"Barb, we should get going," Daniel decided, effectively changing the subject. "I'm sure that Arizona and Callie here are tired from their trip."

"Oh, of course," Barbara agreed. "Come on, ladies. Let's get home."

* * *

As it turned out, Arizona's parents drove an old pick-up with no backseats, so Arizona and Callie ended up sitting on their luggage in the dusty truck bed, victims to the elements.

Callie was fine with the wind. What she hadn't expected, however, was the muggy heat. Even worse, she hadn't expected the hot rain that began to pour a few minutes into their journey home.

Richard cranked open his window and aclled out, "You ladies all right back there?"

"We're fine, Uncle Richard!" Arizona called back. Then, she closed her eyes and lifted her face toward the sky. Most days, she was happy to be far from home. Alabama felt haunted, and it always hurt to be home, no matter how much she loved seeing her family.

She did miss the rain, though. Seattle rained plenty, but it never felt quite like this.

"Arizona."

When Callie got no answer, she swatted the blonde on the arm. "Arizona!"

"Ow!" Arizona complained. "What is it?"

"Are we almost there?" She pointed to her luggage. "My laptop is in there and getting soaked!"

"We're almost there," Arizona assured her and turned her face back toward the sky.

Wanting more attention, Callie began, "You didn't tell me your dad was in the Army." She made it sound like an accusation.

"Marine Corps," Arizona corrected her. "And _you_ never asked."

"Fine." Callie lowered her voice. "But there is something I want to ask now."

"What is it?" Arizona wondered, suddenly a little shy. She wasn't used to her boss wanting to know anything about her. Callie didn't care about anything or anyone. Only about her career. Everyone knew that.

"How do you know Richard, anyway?"

"Oh. He and my dad fought in Vietnam together," Arizona began quietly. "And we've lived next door to each other all my life. They helped each other through their PSTD, and he used to watch my brother and me when my parents went out of town."

"You have a brother?"

Arizona ignored her. "When Richard's wife died—my aunt—he became even closer to my parents. He really doesn't have anyone but us. So we're throwing him a birthday party."

Then, they fell into silence. They watched the scenery pass them by: barns, fields of cattle, and a gorgeous waterfront on their right side, complete with a dock that went out as far as the eye could see.

A few blocks later, and a little inland, Daniel pulled over in front of an old, white house with a big green lawn and wraparound porch.

"We're hooome!" Barbara sang from inside the truck.

Daniel opened the truck bed to let them out. "Does it look the way you remember it?" he asked Arizona.

Arizona looked at her house and smiled. "This house is the one thing that never changes."

"Now, sweetheart?" Barbara began. "We know you don't like surprises, so I'm gonna tell you right now that there are a lot of people in there waiting to see you."

"Me? Why?"

"It's been years since you visited! You've been so busy working…with Callie here," she added, "Everyone missed you and wanted to welcome you home!"

"It's for Callie, too," Daniel added, wanting the other woman to feel included. "Everyone's looking forward to meeting you."

"Oh, good," Callie attempted to smile as Barbara, Daniel, and Richard turned to walk away.

Arizona grabbed her duffel bags and hopped out of the truck. "Come on," she said to the brunette. She began following her family across the grass toward the house, leaving Callie alone with her half-dozen suitcases.

"Arizona," Richard chided once the blonde caught up to him and he noticed that Callie wasn't with her. "Aren't you going to help her with her bags?"

"I offered," Arizona fibbed with a shrug, "but she's too independent. She insisted on carrying them all herself." Without one look back, she continued after her parents, calling "Come on, pumpkin!" behind her.

Richard, however, stopped short and looked at the woman who was still struggling to get off the truck in her four-inch heels.

He walked over to her and offered out his hand. "Let me help you down."

Callie looked at him gratefully, giving him a tiny smile as she accepted the offer. "Thank you."

"I'm surprised Arizona didn't suggest that you wear different shoes. People don't care too much for high-fashion around here."

"Even if she had, I probably wouldn't have listened to her," Callie admitted.

"Did you really tell her you were too independent to have anyone help you with your bags?"

Callie looked at the man blankly.

Richard laughed. "That's what I thought. Come on. I'll help you." He grabbed a few bags, and he and Callie began walking toward the door together.

Callie felt her heels sink into the grass and made a face. "So, um," she began. "Arizona told me you live next door?"

"That's right," the man smiled, turning to wait for the woman, as she pushed her soaked hair away from her sweaty face. "Arizona's like a daughter to me. Such a special girl. But I guess you know that already."

"Right," Callie lied, feeling a little guilty.

* * *

As Callie finished stashing her bags in the front closet, Arizona came up to her and handed her a glass of sweet tea. "Hey. You ready?"

"Ready?" Callie asked. "Ready for what?"

"Ready to be my pleasant, sweet fiancé. Fifty of my parents' closest friends are here, and I'd prefer if they didn't think I have poor taste in women."

"Poor taste?" Callie asked in disbelief. "Do you see me?"

Arizona rolled her eyes. "You may be pretty," she admitted, "but I've also been known to call you 'Satan's Mistress.' So are you ready or what?"

"Fine," Callie conceded. Then: "Hey, why did you never tell me you were some sort of secret southern belle?"

"Please. I'm no debutante girl."

"Still," Callie insisted. "You never said anything."

"How could I? We were in the middle of talking about you."

" _Hey_ ," Callie countered, pulling the woman aside. "This bickering thing has got to stop. I promise that I'll be pleasant. Okay? People have to think that we're in love, so-"

"I can do that! I can be the sweet, loving fiancé, b-"

"Great."

"But for you," Arizona continued, "it would require a little something called _empathy_."

"Very funny. When are you going to tell them that we're getting married?"

Before Arizona could answer, a woman called out to her. "Hey, Arizona! Hi!"

Arizona looked up. "Dr. Avery!" She walked toward the woman and embraced her. "It's so good to see you. This is, uh, Callie. Callie, this is Catherine Avery."

"Hi," Callie shook the woman's hand.

"How are you?" Catherine asked. "We miss having you around."

"I'm doing well," Arizona assured her. "Seattle's great."

"And you're liking your job? You know, I've always wanted to know what exactly an editor does."

"Well," Daniel began, coming up behind his daughter and inserting himself into the conversation, "Arizona's actually an assistant to an editor. Callie here is the editor."

"Oh!" Catherine exclaimed awkwardly. "I see. So Callie is…your boss."

"That's right," Callie confirmed pleasantly.

"Technically…yes," Arizona added.

"Would you excuse me for a moment, please?" Callie asked, having a low tolerance for awkwardness. She turned to Arizona. " _Honey_ , I'll be right back." She hurried away before Arizona could answer, needing some space to gather her thoughts. It had been years since she'd been in a family environment, and she'd forgotten how complicated it could be.

As she stood off to the side within the grand dining room, taking small sips of her tea to combat the heat, a woman came up to her with a platter of food. "Hi!" she chirped. "Would you care for a fried pickle?"

Callie nearly gagged. "No, thank you."

The woman looked toward her tray. "How about fried mushrooms? Onion strings? Hush puppies? Okra patties?"

God, how could such a small person have such an obnoxious voice? "I don't eat anything fried. Thanks, though."

The woman laughed, thinking she couldn't be serious. When Callie didn't join in, her smile fell. "Oh. _Really_?"

Callie nodded. "Thanks, anyway." She dismissed the woman.

But the redhead instead leaned against the wall beside her. "I'm April Kepner."

Callie answered without looking at her. "I'm Callie."

April turned back toward her tray. "Are you sure you don't want to try a hush puppy? Everyone loves hush puppies." She popped one into her own mouth.

"I'm sure."

Suddenly, both women heard a familiar voice coming from another room. "Everyone, I have an important announcement to make…"

"Oh, no."

"…Callie and I are getting married."

Callie peeked through the doorway, and there Arizona was, surrounded by two-dozen people, staring at her. "Come on over, pumpkin!" She waved her boss over.

Feeling herself blush, Callie made her way toward her assistant (and, now, fiancé) as the guests stood up and began to clap and offer their congratulations.

"There she is." Arizona forced herself to smile as she avoided her parents' surprised faces. Instead, she announced again, "We're getting married."

* * *

"So that was your idea of the 'right time' to announce our engagement?" Callie sassed, her hand clutching her champagne flute so hard she feared it might shatter.

Arizona ignored her.

" _Arizona_?"

Callie and Arizona looked up as a gorgeous woman made her way through the crowd.

"Oh!" Arizona exclaimed. "Carly! Hi!" She hurried to hug the woman. "I didn't know you would be here."

Carly shrugged. "Your mom wanted you to be at least a little bit surprised."

Arizona smiled. "Well, I am. Hi. It's been so long."

Carly then looked at Callie, who was standing off to the side, trying not to look like she was listening. "I'm sorry. You must thing I'm so rude." She held out her hand. "I'm Carly."

Arizona hurried between them. "Callie, this is Carly. She's, um, my ex."

"Oh. Wow."

"I'm so happy for you two," the woman smiled. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Callie smiled.

"Did I miss the story?" Carly asked.

"The…story?"

"Yeah. Of how you two first got together."

"Um…"

"Oh, sweetheart, won't you tell us?" Barbara added from the couch, eavesdropping, as usual.

Beside her, Richard grinned. "You know, I think how two people get together says a lot about their future. You've got to tell us."

A number of other guests sat down on the floral couches, looking expectantly at the couple.

"Um…" Arizona pursed her lips. "Actually, Callie loves telling the story. So, I'm…just going to let her do it." She patted her boss on the back and took a seat beside Richard, focusing her full attention on Callie.

"Hmm. Where to begin?" Callie asked—both herself and her audience. "Well…Wow. Okay. Arizona and I had been working together for a year already. And everything had been strictly business. But then, with all those late nights…"

"And book fairs," Arizona added.

"And book fairs," Callie confirmed, "something...happened. And I knew that Arizona liked me, but that she was scared, like a _little_ bird, so she didn't say anything."

Their audience laughed. Arizona stiffened.

"So I started leaving her little hints here and there, because I knew she wouldn't have the guts to ask me out."

"Wellllll, that's not exactly how it happened," Arizona argued, " _sweetie_."

"No?"

"No. See, I picked up on all her little hints—this woman's about as subtle as a gun. What I was worried about was-"

"She was worried that I wouldn't be able to find the sweet, sensitive note she left under my office door," Callie took over. "The one that she wrote on her special pink stationary, with the envelope covered in hearts."

"Awwww," they heard from the audience, and Arizona closed her eyes in embarrassment. She was afraid to meet the eyes of anyone who knew her—surely they would all know that the whole thing was a lie _. Pink._ _Really_ _?_

"And she wrote my name on the outside in calligraphy. It was _so_ beautiful. And I opened that envelope, and what did I find? I found a letter that said-"

"Nothing," Arizona interrupted.

"What?" their audience questioned.

"No letter," Arizona informed them. "It was an address to a bar with a date and a time."

"And I went to that bar, and there Arizona was, all dressed up, in the most lavishing-"

"Jeans," Arizona corrected.

"And a slow song began to play, and sweet Arizona offered me her hand so we could dance, and-"

"Honey?" Arizona interrupted, a little impatiently. "I think you're confusing our getting together story with our engagement story."

"Oh, am I?" Callie asked sarcastically.

"Mm hmm. When we first got together," Arizona corrected, "I saw her at a bar, and she was-"

"Dancing-"

" _Crying_ , because she had just been dumped with no explanation. And my gentle, loving Callie ran to the bathroom to wipe the tears from her face…" Arizona continued. Man, payback was sweet. Still, she hurried through the rest before Callie could interrupt her again. "And I followed her in there, kissed her, and we've been together ever since."

"Awwwww."

"That is…quite the story," Daniel offered, a little uneasily.

"Arizona, you're such a romantic," Richard complimented.

"Let's see a kiss!" Catherine exclaimed.

"Oh, come on…" Arizona pleaded. She looked to her parents for back-up. "You guys don't want to see that."

"Darlin', you're in your thirties now. We know you kiss! You go for it."

"All right, all right!" Arizona surrendered. She reached for Callie's hand and lifted it to her lips. "Muah!"

"Arizona!" Carly laughed. "You can do better than that. Kiss her like you mean it!"

As the entire party began chanting KISS HER, KISS HER, KISS HER, she felt her resolve slipping. "Okay!" She turned to Callie, whispering, "Ready?"

Quickly—without even touching—the two women leaned forward and brushed lips. Just for a second.

"Arizona, give her a real kiss!" Richard commanded. "Come on, don't be shy!"

Arizona inhaled a sharp breath in preparation, meeting dark eyes as Callie instinctively moistened her bottom lip with her tongue. Slowly, Arizona lifted a hand to cup the woman's cheek and inclined her head to meet full lips.

Wanting to make the kiss seem genuine, Callie pressed her body against the shorter woman and shut her eyes, feeling her lashes brush against porcelain skin. They kept their lips locked together while the party-goers cheered, not moving, but not pulling away either.

Finally, after a few seconds, they pulled away, each woman somehow breathless.

Arizona turned to face her loved ones. They had done it. The kiss had looked real, and everyone was convinced.

Callie's eyes stayed fixed on Arizona. The kiss had looked real. And it had felt real, too.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much to those of you who left feedback on my first chapter! Please let me know what you think of this one!**

* * *

"So, here we are," Barbara announced as she led the couple into their bedroom for the next few days. "This is Arizona's old room."

"Wow." Callie looked around. The room still had traces of childhood in it—the flowered wallpaper, the teddy bear on the bookshelf, the white bed-skirt lining the bed—but otherwise resembled a guestroom with a large dresser, double bed, and adjoining bathroom.

Arizona walked to the window and opened the curtains.

" _Oh_." Callie looked out and had a perfect view of the pier from between sparse trees. "That's beautiful." She turned back to face Barbara. "So, um, where will I be sleeping?"

"Oh, darlin'," Barbara laughed. "We aren't under any illusions that you two don't sleep in the same bed. I know you probably think we're some southern old farts, but love is love in this house. Ain't that right, Arizona?"

Arizona smiled at her mom. "Right."

"Daniel and I may not have 'felt the Bern,'" Barbara continued, "But we don't like that clown in the White House any more than you ladies do."

Suddenly, a cat came slinking into the room, and Callie took a step back. "Oh. Wait. Okay. There's an animal." She raised her hands into a makeshift shield.

"Is this Percy?!" Arizona walked toward the cat, careful not to scare it just as Richard walked in.

"Sorry about that. He must have heard you and gotten curious."

"That's okay." Arizona lifted the cat into her arms, and he began to purr as she petted him. "Look how cute you are," she cooed. She looked over at Callie. "You wanna hold him?"

Instinctively, Callie took a step back.

Arizona read her horrified expression. "Is Callie Torres afraid of _cats_?" she asked in disbelief.

"I didn't spend much time around animals as a kid," Callie defended.

Arizona laughed, and Richard promised, "He won't hurt you. He'll probably stay away from you. You just can't let him outside."

"That's true," Barbara confirmed. "The coyotes will eat him."

Callie's eyebrows flew up. "Coyotes?"

"Oh, don't panic." Arizona rolled her eyes. "You'll repel them with your perfume."

"Well, I better be heading home," Richard decided. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Richard," Barbara smiled, then walked over and grabbed the cat from Arizona and kissed her cheek. "Your father and I best be getting to bed, too." She began making her way toward the door. "Goodnight, you two."

"Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, Barbara," Callie smiled, able to function again without the cat close by. "Thank you so much for everything."

As soon as the woman closed the door behind her, Callie and Arizona exhaled sighs of relief.

* * *

As Callie changed into her pajamas in the bathroom, Arizona set up her sleeping bag on the floor. She had originally intended to snuggle inside, but she soon remembered that Alabama was swelteringly hot in the summer, and she settled for lying on top of it instead.

"I guess it's been a while since you've been home," Callie began conversationally.

"Well, I haven't exactly had a lot of time off."

Callie poked her head out of the bathroom. "Hey, um, close your eyes, okay?"

"Okay," Arizona agreed.

"Are they closed?"

Arizona's eyes remained open. "Completely."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Arizona lied.

Callie scurried to the bed in a tiny silk nightgown, and Arizona followed her with her eyes. " _That's_ what you decided to wear to a tiny town in Alabama?"

"I had been under the impression that I was going to stay in a hotel," Callie defended. " _Alone_."

Arizona sighed. "Let's just go to bed."

"Fine."

"Fine."

* * *

Early the next morning, Callie's and Arizona's sleep was interrupted by the blaring ring of Callie's phone.

"Arizona!" Callie whisper-yelled.

"Mmm," Arizona moaned.

"Arizona! Where's the phone?"

"Purse. Side pocket," Arizona answered through her teeth.

Fumbling through her purse, Callie finally located her phone and hurried to pick up. "Hello?" She paused. "Oh, hi! Cristina. Can you hear me?" Another pause. Callie paced back and forth across the room, the old floorboards creaking with every step. " _Louder_?" Her voice rose in volume. "Is this better?"

"OH MY GOD," Arizona exclaimed, losing patience. "Callie! Go outside!"

"Fine!" With that, Callie hurried down the stairs and flung open the front door without one look back.

She walked into the morning air that instantly disgusted her. How could it already be _so hot_ so early in the morning?

"Cristina? Hello? Hello. I'm here." She paused, listening to the woman on the other side of the line. "Okay, so Random House is wining and dining you. You don't even like wine!" She waited. "Cristina, you're making the right call to publish with us. I care about your manusc-" Callie looked up to find a small grey cat making its way down the front steps and instantly cursed. " _Shit_."

She ran toward Percy, who had managed to get out. She supposed she perhaps should have closed the front door behind her. "Percy!" she called, unsuccessfully attempting to soften her hard tone. "Percy! Go back inside!"

The cat continued moving forward onto the grass, fearless despite the fact that he'd never been outside before.

"What? Sorry, Cristina. I'm here." She held the phone away from her lips. "PERCY. Get over here!"

The cat made no move toward her.

Callie attempted to keep her focus on her phone conversation. "What can I do for you that would make you feel more secure? Anything you need." She paused then hissed, "Percy!"

She began stalking toward him and a few seconds later responded, "Fine. Cristina, I will send you an endless supply of tequila once you publish. I promise." The cat began ambling toward the road. "I've gotta go!" Callie dropped her phone to the grass without one look back, cringing when she heard a loud cracking sound rather than the soft fall she had expected.

But it was too late. She instead raced toward the cat and, to her dismay, Percy bolted in the opposite direction. " _Damn it_."

Still half-asleep, Arizona walked downstairs to find her mother standing by the front window, giggling.

Arizona yawned as she came to stand beside her. "What's so funny?"

Barbara gestured toward the scene outside. Arizona watched as Callie stood frozen, entirely focused on a spot on the grass. It was only when she saw a small shape take off, with Callie sprinting after, that Arizona realized that it was the cat.

Barbara laughed. "She's playing with Percy!"

But Arizona knew better. With a sigh, she pushed past her mother and headed outside, walking toward Callie with her arms crossed over her chest. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

Callie at last managed to grab the cat and held him tightly in her arms as she answered. "He got out!" she exclaimed. "And your mom and Richard said the coyotes would eat him! So I tried to grab him, but he kept running off! And I think I broke my phone." She looked down at the grass, attempting to locate it.

Arizona moved closer. "Are you drunk?"

"What? No!" Callie defended. "I had to get the cat, so I dropped my phone, and-" She suddenly raced forward and picked up the iPhone she found at her feet. Shattered. It had fallen on the metal sprinklers and refused to turn on. "Damn it!" she swore. "Cristina's calling me on that phone!"

"Relax, okay?" Arizona countered. "We'll get you another phone in town tomorrow."

"Really?" Callie asked, still a little out of breath.

"Yeah."

"Oh. Okay," Callie exhaled, relieved. She saw Barbara standing in the doorway of the house with a can of cat food and set down Percy. "We're good, then."

"Actually, you need to go get ready," Arizona informed her.

"What? For what?"

"You're going out with Mom and Richard."

Callie made a face. "I don't want to go ou-"

"Shopping," Arizona continued as if she hadn't heard her. "Sightseeing. It's a surprise."

"I hate shopping."

"No, you love it."

"I hate sightseeing!" Callie whined.

"It's going to be great," Arizona lied, feeling a little smug.

"I'm not going!"

"Yes, you are," Arizona insisted. "Now, give me a hug. We don't want her to think we're fighting."

"I'm not gon-"

"Come on," Arizona insisted. "Hug time."

"I don't wanna, I don't wa-"

Arizona reached out and pulled an unwilling Callie to her.

"Arizona-" Callie complained.

"There we go," Arizona interrupted, looking to where her smiling mother was watching them from inside the house. "That's nice, huh?" She rubbed Callie's back, attempting to put on a good show.

Callie's arms remained at her sides. "Can we be done now?"

"Not yet." Arizona held the woman for another few moments then loosened her grasp. "Okay. Now we're done."

"Great," Callie clipped and headed for the house, muttering, "Time to go _shopping_."

* * *

Before Barbara left for the day's activities, she told Arizona that her dad was looking for her, so Arizona slowly made her way to the garage after eating breakfast. That had always been Daniel's sanctuary and the place he spent the most of his time.

When she walked in, Daniel looked up from his sawing.

"You wanted to see me?" Arizona prompted.

"Your mother wanted me to build a few more birdhouses," he began conversationally. He went back his work for a minute. "Anyway," he continued, "she's a little upset with me for not being more friendly yesterday."

Arizona waited.

"Of course it was a little bit of a _shock_ to find out that you were getting married when none of us knew that you were even dating. But…" He paused to clear his throat. "I'm sorry."

Arizona offered him a small smile. "It's already forgotten, Dad."

"Still…" The man paused, looking down at his woodwork instead of at Arizona.

Again, Arizona waited. Her father didn't speak much and, when he did, he spoke slowly. She was well-accustomed to it.

"Arizona, what are you doing with her?" he finally asked. "I mean, you hated her. Every time you called us, you went on and on about how much you hated her."

Arizona shrugged, brushing off the comments—even though they were true. "Things change. We figured out that we were made for each other," she lied. "You know, with all the time we spent together, all the late nights, all th-"

"Book fairs, I know," he finished for her. "It just seems…out of character. I worry that things are getting bad for you, again."

Arizona knit her eyebrows together, already resenting her father's doubt in her. "What do you mean?"

His gaze on her tightened. "You know damn well what I mean. And your mother and I can't look after you if you're on the other side of the country." He paused, then made his point: "I think it's time that you move home."

" _What_?" Arizona snapped, instinctually taking a step back. "No way."

"Now listen here, young lady," Daniel countered. "W-"

"No." Arizona took another step toward the door, distancing herself from her father's authority. She was in her thirties, for crying out loud. She wasn't under her father's control. Not anymore. "I'm fine," she vowed. "I'm happy in Seattle. _And_ with Callie."

"Arizona, I'm not going to stand aside and let you sabotage yourself and marry a woman just for a promotion."

"Oh, great, Dad," Arizona fought back. "It's great to see that you think so much of me. That's great. Thanks."

Daniel sighed. "Arizona, it's not that, it's j-"

Arizona cut him off before he could finish. "You know what? I don't have to listen to this. I'm leaving, Dad."

* * *

Callie was fingering dusty collectible spoons at the Olde South Antique Mall when Barbara came over to stand beside her. "What do you think? Neat spot, huh?"

"Very," Callie lied. "There are so many…antiques." She couldn't think of anything else nice to say.

Barbara smiled. "It's one of the treasures of this town. You should've seen how much Arizona loved it when she was a kid. She could've spent all day and night here, if we had let her."

A few yards away, inspecting a signed baseball, Richard said, "She did once. Remember that time she got locked in after hours?"

Callie's eyebrows flew up. "She got locked in? _Here_? At night?" Looking around at all the animal heads mounting the walls, she couldn't imagine how terrifying that must have been.

"Oh, yeah," Barbara giggled. "That sweet girl fell asleep in one of the old armchairs, so she didn't hear the closing announcement, and the shopkeeper didn't know she was here, so he just locked her in and left."

"What did she do?" Callie wondered, genuinely curious.

"She woke up terrified, as you can imagine, and called Richard here to come get her.

That confused Callie. "She didn't call you? Or maybe the police?"

That made Barbara laugh. "Oh, darlin', Richard _was_ the police."

"I was the county police chief," Richard explained. "Just retired last year."

"Oh," was all that Callie said, but she was impressed.

A second later, a high-pitched voice prompted, "Barbara? Is that you?"

Callie made a face. She knew that voice instantaneously. She wondered whether it would be rude to ask the girl to speak differently. _That_ was how annoying her voice was.

"April!" Barbara exclaimed, then noticed the woman following behind the redhead. "Carly! What are y'all doing here?"

"We were just doing a little shopping," Carly answered. "Izzie's wedding is coming up, and we were looking for something good to get her." She smiled at Callie. "Hey, Callie."

Callie smiled back despite herself. The woman was actually kind of charming.

"Are you giving Callie the grand tour?" she asked Barbara and Richard.

"We are," Richard nodded. "We're off to Mr. Gene's next. You two want to come along for some ice cream?"

* * *

As they began the short walk to the ice cream stop, Callie found herself walking beside Richard. Something about his presence was calming to her. He seemed like such a father-figure, and she sensed that he had lived a long life and had a fair amount of wisdom to impart.

"Hey, Richard?" she began. "Is there a reason The Colonel didn't come with us today?" She sensed that Arizona's father was suspicious of her, and that instantly had made her feel self-conscious.

"Don't you worry about Daniel," Richard promised. "He's always been more of a loner. Prefers to brood and build in his garage than interact with other people. Especially now."

"Oh," Callie nodded, though she didn't completely understand what the man meant. Still, she was glad to know that The Colonel didn't hate her. She hoped he didn't, anyway.

After ice cream, the crew walked down the main road, window-shopping and chatting about the slow Alabama life while Callie listened in.

As she stopped to cringe at a window display of hideous bathing suits, Carly stopped with her. "You thinking of getting one?"

Callie made a face. "I think I'd rather eat dirt."

The woman laughed. "I guess the styles here are a little different from what you're used to."

"No kidding."

Carly fixed her eyes on her. "This town's a little different from Seattle, huh?"

Callie nodded. "Little bit." She turned toward the woman as they began walking again. "You ever been?"

"No," Carly shook her head. "That was always Arizona's dream."

"You guys were pretty serious, huh?"

"Well, I mean, we dated in high school and all through college, but we were kids."

Gaining courage, Callie wondered, "Why did you guys call it off?"

Carly looked down. "Well, um, I broke things off after Tim died."

Callie gave her a questioning look. "Tim?"

Carly responded with her own surprised expression. "Her brother?" She searched Callie's face for any sign of recognition. "She didn't tell you about Tim?"

Callie shook her head.

" _Man_ ," Carly sighed. "Typical Arizona."

"What do you mean?"

"You knew she had a brother, though, didn't you?"

Callie nodded. "She's mentioned him. I didn't know he'd died."

Carly forced her lips up into a sad smile. "He was killed in action. It'll be ten years in a few weeks."

Callie didn't know what to say.

"She was just so sad, afterwards," Carly continued. "So…angry. But we were okay. We were good for a while. And she said she loved me and needed me, but…" She paused. "I was scared that if I kept being the person she fell on, she would never face her own demons and accept all the unfairness that had happened to her. That she'd never completely heal."

Carly had a faraway look in her eyes, and Callie stayed quiet. She found herself wondering whether the woman had hoped that she and Arizona would find their way back to each other one day. She wondered if the woman resented her.

"Well, anyway," Carly exhaled, refocusing on the conversation, "You're a lucky girl. She really is the best. Which you obviously already know." She laughed.

"Oh. Yep." Callie nodded. "Totally."

* * *

As they passed the waterfront on the car-ride home, Barbara regretted, "Oh no."

Callie looked out the window, wondering what the problem was. "What's wrong?"

Richard pointed to the pier, and Callie could just barely make out Arizona standing on it, pacing back and forth.

Barbara began driving faster. "Something's up. We better just give her time to cool off."

Once they got to the house, Richard went upstairs to go find Percy, and Barbara immediately found Daniel in the garage. "Why is Arizona out there on the pier again?"

"Oh, Barb, how should I know?" Daniel lied.

Within hearing distance, Callie stood still, not wanting the creaky floors to give away the fact that she was listening.

"What did you do?" Callie heard Barbara ask.

"I didn't do anything!" Daniel defended. "I was just…expressing some concern about her decisions."

"Well, that's a good idea," Barbara countered sarcastically. "That's a good idea, Daniel, because she will _never_ come back home now. She is my daughter, and I only get to see her every three years because of you!"

"It's not because of me, and you know it!" Daniel fought.

"You remind her!" Barbara insisted. "You insist on reminding her how much she hurt after Tim. Of how much his death hurt her."

Callie began climbing up the stairs on her tiptoes, feeling a little guilty for listening in. The last thing she heard was Barbara's, "If we're not careful, we are going to end up in this big house, just you and me, _alone_. Just you and me and everything we're sad and angry about. And god forbid that they should have a _grandchild_ that we never get to see! You are going to fix this, Daniel. I mean it. You are going to make Callie and Arizona feel welcome."

Once upstairs, Callie didn't go to shower right away, as she originally had planned. Instead, she found herself opening and shutting the doors, giving herself a little tour of the upstairs rooms of the house.

Barbara and The Colonel's room was easy to identify. Then there was a hall closet, a bathroom, and…

The next door Callie opened led to a boy's room. It was laid out like Arizona's, but it was masculine, with posters of sports teams and rock bands and dark, subdued colors. It smelled dusty, too. As if no one had dared enter in a long time.

"They still haven't been able to clean it."

Callie jumped in surprise, instantly slamming the door shut. She turned around to find Richard standing directly behind her. "I'm sorry. I was just-"

"You were just snooping," Richard answered knowingly. "That's all right. I'd be curious about him, too."

"Right," Callie breathed. So it _had_ been Tim's room.

"Why don't you go see how Arizona's doing?" the man suggested. "It's a short walk over there, and I'm sure she'd appreciate you going."

She hitched her thumb over her shoulder. "I was actually, uh, going to shower," she informed him. Then, briefly looking back at Tim's bedroom door, she again muttered, "Sorry."

* * *

Half an hour later, Arizona walked into her room with her music blaring through her headphones, feeling appropriately recovered from her little chat with her dad.

At the same time, Callie shut off the water in the shower only to realize that she had forgotten to bring a towel into the bathroom. "Shit." She looked around her, but all she could find was a measly washcloth. She knew that alone would not suffice.

As Arizona stood in her closet and began stripping off her clothes to shower, Callie thought she heard movement nearby.

"Hello?" she prompted, waiting for a response. "Hello?" She opened the bathroom door and peeked out. The closet doors were wide open and obstructed her view of much of the room. Still, she didn't see anyone else in there. "Hello?"

She spotted a pile of towels on the dresser and began walking forward, sheltering her more intimate parts with the thin washcloth she had.

And then, suddenly, there was Percy, sitting on the carpet in front of her, glaring. Or, well, maybe the cat was only staring, but Callie felt that the expression was malevolent.

"Oh, no," Callie breathed. "You again." She backed away from him, too afraid to move toward him. Once she was back in the bathroom, she decided that if she could only lure Percy inside, she could lock him in the bathroom and safely away from her.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty," she began, working to make her voice sweet. "Come here, Percy. Here kitty, kitty." The cat began heading toward her and, soon, he was in the bathroom, too.

Callie hurried to make her speedy escape, running forward and closing the door behind her, with the cat stranded inside. She didn't even look where she was going and, wet and naked, she ran directly into Arizona with a wet _SPLAT_.

Both women screamed in horror upon impact. "OH MY GOD."

"WHY ARE YOU WET?" Arizona wondered.

"WHY ARE YOU NAKED?"

"Oh my god, oh my god," Callie cursed. "Don't look at me!"

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Arizona screamed, her music still blasting. "WHY ARE YOU WET?"

"Don't look at me!" Callie commanded. She looked at Arizona. "Oh, god, you're showing everything, you're-"

Arizona quickly wrapped a towel around herself, and Callie grabbed a quilt from the bed to hide behind. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF," she demanded.

"'EXPLAIN' MYSELF?"

" _YES_. EXPLAIN YOURSELF," Callie demanded again.

"I was in the closet!"

"Oh, and you didn't hear me?" Callie asked in disbelief.

"I was listening to music!" Arizona defended. "What are you even doing home? And you're just going to…jump me out of nowhere? If you were that bi-curious, you could have just said so."

"Oh, please. For the record, I'm not 'curious,' I'm just bi, and I didn't _mean_ to jump you! Your cat was going to attack me! And I had to run, and…I ran into you." Callie trailed off.

Arizona looked disgusted. "What is it with you and this cat?"

"Nothing! Just…go. Go take a shower. You stink."

"Well it's hot out," Arizona countered. She opened the bathroom door and Percy came running out.

"See!" Callie pointed at him. "He was going to attack me!"

"Oh, yeah," Arizona mocked, "He's deadly. I barely made it out with my life."

Callie just glared at her.

* * *

That night, as they lay down to sleep—with Callie on the bed and Arizona on the floor—they were silent, still feeling awkward after the events of earlier that day. Arizona was thinking about how Callie had revealed that she was bisexual (this was news to her—she hadn't thought that the woman had the capacity to love, much less love two genders), and Callie was thinking about just how…naked Arizona had been.

Finally, to break the silence, Arizona offered, "So, _SO_ naked."

A little embarrassed, Callie cleared her throat. "Can we, uh, not talk about that, please?"

Arizona shrugged. "Just saying."

Callie exhaled a loud sigh. "So, um, what's the deal with you and your dad?"

Unwilling to answer, Arizona replied, "Oh, I'm sorry, that question is _not_ in the binder."

"I thought you were the one who said we have to learn all this stuff about each other."

"Not about that."

"Well-"

"Not about that, Callie," Arizona interrupted with a harsh tone, hoping to put an end to the conversation.

Callie remained quiet for a minute, then braved, "Does it have anything to do with Tim?"

Arizona sat up from her sleeping bag, looking at the lump that lay on the bed. "How do you know about Tim?"

Callie bit her lip. "Carly told me." She paused. Then: "I'm sorry."

With a resigned huff, Arizona lay back down. She supposed she couldn't have kept that secret forever, so she confessed, "Yeah. It has to do with Tim."

Again, they lapsed into silence, with neither woman really knowing what to say.

Feeling awkward, Arizona cleared her throat.

Then, suddenly, she heard: "I used to have a pet ferret."

Arizona's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"So I'm not afraid of _all_ animals, just some," Callie continued. "And, um…I joined the Peace Corps after college. I like to play video games. If I have a choice between a sandwich and a slice of pizza, I'll always choose the pizza." She paused. "I don't like roses because they remind me of my parents' house."

Arizona remained silent, just listening.

"I read _The Awakening_ at least once a year. It's my favorite book." Callie paused. "I haven't…slept with anyone in over a year and a half. And, um, I went to the bathroom and cried after Bob called me a 'poisonous bitch.'" She thought for a second. "The best concert I've ever been to was Outkast. And you're right. I have a big sister. Aria. And I haven't spoken to her in over ten years."

Callie took a breath. "I'm sure there's many, many other things, but that's all I can come up with right now."

Arizona didn't say anything, and the silence dragged on for long enough that Callie self-consciously wondered, "You there?"

"I'm here," Arizona breathed. "Just…processing."

Callie waited.

A moment later: "You really haven't slept with anyone in eighteen months?"

"Oh my god," Callie rolled her eyes. "Out of all of that, that's all you got?"

Arizona made a face. "That's a long time."

"Yeah, well, I've been a little busy," Callie defended.

They were silent for a minute, and then Arizona wondered, "Who's, uh, who's Outkast?"

"Outkast? You know." Callie began humming quietly. " _My baby don't mess around because she loves me so, and this I know for sho_ …" She waited. "No? You don't know it?"

Arizona shook her head, lying, "Nuh-uh." Then, she began to laugh.

"What?" Callie questioned.

"Nothing." Arizona was still laughing. "I know who they are. I just wanted to hear you sing it."

Callie chuckled with her.

They fell into a comfortable silence, and then Arizona interrupted it, prompting, "I actually do, uh, have a question."

Callie gulped, bracing herself. "Sure."

"What happened…with you and your family?"

"What?" Callie asked, as if she hadn't heard the question. But of course she had.

"I've been your assistant for three years," Arizona continued. "And you've never talked about your parents. You told Ms. Bailey that you didn't keep in contact with them. And you just said you haven't talked to your sister in ten years. What happened? Did it have anything to do with…you being bi?"

Callie pursed her lips. Every part of the hard personality she'd built was telling her not to answer—to not let her guard down. But Arizona had already torn down her guard. Little by little, she had chipped away at the house of protection Callie had constructed around herself.

 _Well, she_ _had_ _to_ , Callie reminded herself harshly. _It wasn't by choice. You're forcing her to marry you_.

Still, after what Carly had revealed and Richard had confirmed earlier that day, how could Callie deny her? If anyone understood loss like she did, it was Arizona.

"I, um." Callie paused.

Arizona waited.

Callie cleared her throat. "Well...I was twenty-two. Just out of college," she began. "I went to Puget Sound. And, uh, while I was there, I figured out that I liked girls, too. _Women_ ," she corrected herself.

"Okay..." Arizona responded gently so that Callie would know that she was listening.

"And since I was dating a woman, I felt like it was time to come out to my parents," Callie continued. "So, when I went home to figure out my next step, I told them."

Arizona bit her bottom lip. "I'm guessing they didn't take it too well?"

Callie let out a dark laugh. "You guessed right. That's an understatement. They didn't talk to me for weeks. I had to stay at a friend's."

"Was that...the last time you spoke to them?"

"No," Callie sighed. She decided to skip over the part where her parents had invited her back home and she had found their priest sitting at their dining room table, prepared to tell her she was an abomination. She didn't need to share how her mother and father started yelling and quoting Bible passages that proved how "sinful" she was.

Callie closed her eyes and continued, "So I came back to Washington and waited for them to call, and they didn't. And I waited for Aria—my sister—to call, and she didn't. And then, finally, after a year, my dad called and said he'd had a change of heart—that he loved me no matter what."

Callie felt tears prick her eyes as she prepared to admit what had followed. "He had a heart attack the next day."

"Oh, Callie..."

" _No_ ," Callie countered, rejecting the pity as she tried to ward off the tears. "That's not even the end of it. The worst part was when my mom called to tell me he died. She said..." She attempted to swallow the bile in her throat. "She said it was God punishing our family for my sin. She said it was my fault that my dad was dead."

In spite of the three years Arizona had spent hating her boss, she felt her heart ache for Callie. She wanted to get up, walk over to the bed, and give the other woman a warm hug, but she didn't move.

"That was the last time I spoke to her," Callie concluded. "And Aria never reached out to me until a few years ago, and by then it was too late."

Arizona exhaled a shaky breath. She didn't know what to say. _I'm sorry_ seemed lame. So did _I'm so sorry for your loss_ —or was it _losses_? _That's rough_ seemed somehow to minimize the experience's impact. Finally, she decided just to say what she was thinking.

"I'm so sad for you."

And it was that, more than anything else, that made Callie want to cry. Arizona's reply was just so true, so honest, and it was somehow exactly what Callie had needed to hear. Still, she attempted to laugh, uncomfortable in her vulnerability. "Yeah, well. Life goes on. And who needs people, anyway? I'm better off without them."

Arizona didn't answer. She easily saw through Callie's tough exterior, and Callie knew it.

After a few minutes of silence, Callie decided that Arizona had fallen asleep and closed her own eyes, hoping that she might be able to fall asleep—but knowing that it would likely take hours, after the conversation they'd just had.

Then, out of the darkness came: "Callie?"

Callie's eyes popped open. "Hmm?" she prompted, attempting to slow her suddenly shallow breathing.

Arizona bit her bottom lip. "Don't take this the wrong way."

Callie cleared her throat and squared her shoulders, mentally preparing herself for the criticism that was sure to follow. "Okay."

Arizona took a second to answer, silently replaying the scene from earlier in her head. Then, solemnly, she confessed, "You…are a very, _very_ beautiful woman."

Callie felt herself blush, and her lips curled up into a slow smile. "So are you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to all of you who have left reviews thus far! Can I get a few more of those? Haha. Let me know what you think, please and thank you!**

* * *

The next morning, Callie woke up and momentarily forgot where she was. It took her a minute to situate herself and remember that she was at her assistant's parents' house in Fairhope freakin' Alabama, pretending to be engaged. It wasn't the most relaxing wake-up call.

Wide-awake with that realization, she peered over the bed to find Arizona lying on the floor, still fast asleep. When she reached for her phone on the side table—forgetting that it was broken—she caught a look at herself in the small mirror that sat there.

"Oh, god," she groaned, horrified. Quickly, she attempted to comb through her knotted hair with her fingers and put a little lip gloss on her lips, feeling oddly self-conscious. She snuck another peek at Arizona. Phewf. Still asleep.

Just as she lay back down, she heard a knock at the door.

"Hello?" came Barbara's voice from the hallway. "Room service! Breakfast for the happy couple!"

"Arizona!" Callie whisper-yelled toward the sleeping form on the floor. "Arizona!"

Arizona moaned, resenting the woman who was interrupting her blissful sleep.

"Arizona!" Callie grabbed a pillow from the bed and launched it at her head.

Arizona's head snapped up. "OW! _What_?"

"Your _mother_!" she hissed. "She's at the door! Get over here!"

"Oh. _Shit_." Arizona quickly stood up, threw the sleeping bag into the closet, and climbed into bed beside Callie.

In chaos, they both worked to rearrange the blankets and situate themselves in a position that looked couple-y.

"What's going on?" Arizona rasped. She focused on Callie's face, looking at her questioningly. "Are you wearing makeup?"

"What?" Callie snapped. She looked away, attempting to escape Arizona's skeptical eyes. "No! Of course not!" She lay down on her side. "Just spoon me! Come on! Hurry!"

"Fine!" Arizona obeyed, moving forward to wrap her body around Callie's. It was too hot out for spooning, and with her body against Callie's, she immediately felt like she was on fire.

Still, Arizona had to admit that the woman smelled good. That was nice.

She whispered "Like this?" against the nape of Callie's neck.

Callie instinctively closed her eyes. The reality of their closeness wasn't lost on her, especially because it had been so long since she'd lay so close to anyone. Suddenly, she remembered what she'd been missing out on. "Yeah," she breathed.

Barbara knocked again. "Are y'all okay in there?"

Callie's eyes flew open, and she hurried to answer, "Yeah, we're fine! Come in, Barbara!"

"Come in, Mom!" Arizona called simultaneously.

Barbara opened the door and walked in, carrying a tray with coffee, grits, and buttery biscuits.

Arizona sat up, moaning, "Ooh, Mom, that smells good."

Callie quickly followed suit. "Oh, Barbara, you shouldn't have gone to all that trouble…"

"Oh, it's no trouble," Barbara assured her. "You're family now!" She walked over to the window and opened the curtains, letting in the warm morning light.

"Knock, knock." Daniel paused at the door. "You have room for one more?"

"Oh, Dad…" Arizona began, instantly peeved. "Can we not do the Brady famil-"

"Darlin', this will be quick," he promised.

Barbara walked across the room to stand by his side and grinned at Callie and Arizona.

"Your mother and I have come up with a proposition," Daniel began, "and I happen to think it's a great idea. We wa-"

In all her excitement, Barbara interrupted, "We want you to get married _here_ tomorrow!"

Callie and Arizona gaped at her in surprise. That may have been the last thing they had expected to hear.

"What...?" Callie asked, making a face.

Arizona started to shake her head, already nixing the idea.

"Well, you're going to get married anyway, so why don't you get married here, where we can be all together?" Barbara wondered. "And, that way, Richard can be involved, too." She grinned at them, obviously thrilled by the idea.

"Oh, no…" Callie dissented. "It's Uncle Richard's big birthday bash tomorrow. We don't want to imp-"

With that, Richard, who apparently had been standing in the hallway outside, walked in and insisted, "Oh, I've already had sixty-four little birthday parties. I don't need another one!"

"Uncle Richard…" Arizona began.

"It would be a dream come true for me to share this big day with you," Richard insisted. "You mean more to me than anything in the world. It'd be a dream come true!" He looked expectantly at them. "So you'll do it?"

"Uhh…" Callie began.

Arizona slowly shook her head, not giving in. _No way_.

"Oh, Arizona," he pleaded, prepared with a guilt-trip, "it would be the best gift you could possibly give me. You know, with the war injuries and the alcoholism, I just don't know how many years I have left, and..."

Arizona put up her hands. "Okay, okay!" she surrendered. She didn't want to think about Richard _dying_ , so she promised, "We'll do it."

He and Barbara responded by bursting into excited giggles, and even Daniel cracked a smile.

"Okay, we will do _everything_ ," Barbara promised. "And you can get married like we did, in the barn down the road!"

"Oh, I think that's a wonderful idea, Barb," Richard agreed. He smiled at Arizona. "It'll become a Robbins family tradition!"

"Oh… _wow_!" Callie had to work hard to feign excitement. "You know, I've always wanted to get married in…a barn."

"Me, too," Arizona lied. "It's a dream come true."

"It's a sign!" Richard exclaimed. He slapped Daniel on the arm. "See? They're made for each other."

"All right, all right," Daniel swatted him away, never one to allow himself to give into emotions. "Let's leave them alone now so they can get on with their day." He began walking toward the door, and Richard offered a little wave and then began after him.

Barbara hesitated, grinning at Callie and Arizona like a crazy woman. "Well, I know I should leave you two alone now, too." She paused. "But I'm just so excited!"

"Yaaay!" Callie and Arizona cheered with faux-excitement. "Us, too!" "It's going to be so great!"

Daniel put his hands on Barbara's shoulders, attempting to guide her toward the door. It almost made Arizona a little less mad at him. She was eager for her mom to go so that she could give into the panic attack she could feel coming.

"We're _really_ excited!" Barbara managed to exclaim once more before Daniel shut the door behind them.

The second they were alone, Arizona put her face in her hands. "Oh my _god_."

"What?" Callie worried.

"When my mom finds out that this whole thing is a joke, she's going to be crushed," Arizona panicked. "And did you hear Uncle Richard? He's going to _DIE_."

"Hey, they're not going to find out," Callie assured her.

"And my dad! He's going to kill me. Literally _KILL_ me, because he knows how, you know. He's killed before. What the hell was with the…that whole wedding thing? Where…where did that come from?" she stuttered.

Callie continued to attempt to pacify her. "Your mom probably got him worked up. It's fine," she soothed. "They're not going to find out!"

"Ahhh," Arizona moaned, burying her face in her hands again. "God, Callie! They, they-"

"Arizona," Callie comforted, "they're not going to find out, okay? Just relax." Without thinking, she lifted her hands to Arizona's shoulders, rubbing soothing circles on her back. "It'll be okay."

Arizona's brows furrowed in confusion, and Callie continued with her small circles, without even realizing she was making them. "It's not like we're going to be married forever. We'll be happily divorced in no time! It'll be fine," she promised. "It'll be fine." Callie leaned in closer, almost nuzzling Arizona's shoulder. "Okay?"

"Yeah," Arizona breathed. She turned to meet Callie's eyes, and suddenly they both realized how close their faces where.

"So!" Callie jumped up, no longer embarrassed about her silk pajamas and desperate for a little space. "Do you want some coffee? With almond milk and Sweet & Low?"

Arizona chuckled. "Good one."

Callie laughed as she began pouring the coffee into two mugs.

"You know, you're right," Arizona decided, cheering herself up. "We'll get a quickie divorce. We'll be fine. Everything's going to be _fine_."

"Absolutely," Callie agreed. "It's going to be great." She made her way back to the bed, equipped with a cup of coffee for Arizona and a plate of biscuits for them to share. She made a face. "I guess I better learn how to cook if I'm going to be a good wife. Can't have you leave me for another woman," she laughed.

Arizona smirked. "I haven't left you yet, Callie." She reached for the mug and felt her boss staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing," Callie lied. A second later: "You know, I'm gonna…go," she decided.

Arizona looked at her in confusion. "Where?"

"I just kind of feel like...going outside," Callie explained vaguely as she moved toward the bathroom to change.

"Oh. Okay," Arizona nodded. "But that's, uh, the bathroom."

Awkwardly, Callie noted, "Right. I'm going to go to the bathroom, and then I'm going to outside."

* * *

A few minutes later, Callie was outside, and she was grateful for the fresh air. She wished that the air wasn't so _hot_ but, still, it was less stifling than sitting with Arizona in that tiny room.

But what was her plan? She didn't actually have anywhere to go—nowhere but the antique store, the ice cream shop, the barber shop, or the Shell station, anyway. So, ultimately, she decided just to walk along the road and see where it led her.

She began walking up the road, passing houses, fields, old cars, and trees. There really wasn't much else to see, and Callie wondered how Arizona had borne living in such a boring place for at least the first eighteen years of her life. It was nothing like Seattle.

 _Okay, Callie_ , she thought to herself as she walked, _you need to cool it. Okay? This is a business deal. It's_ _just_ _a business deal. Everything is just fine._

After a while, the morning heat became too much to bear, and she stumbled into a church, knowing she could always find shelter there.

The interior was blissfully air-conditioned, and Callie exhaled a sigh of relief as she sat down at a pew.

She closed her eyes for a brief rest and, a minute later, she heard her name.

"Callie?"

Callie looked up to find Richard standing a few feet from her pew. "Richard?"

"What are you doing here?" the man wondered in surprise.

"I was on a walk and got hot," Callie explained. She stood up, worried about infringing on his space. "I was just on my way out."

"Care for some company?" the man proposed. "I could use a nice walk."

Callie nodded, a little uneasy. "Sure."

They began making their way south, walking side-by-side.

"So," Richard prompted, turning his head toward Callie, "you're getting married tomorrow."

Callie gulped. "I guess so."

Richard smiled and placed an allaying hand on her shoulder. "I was nervous before my wedding day, too. You should've seen me shakin'." He laughed.

Callie couldn't help but smile, too. "How long were you and your wife together?"

"Forty-four years," Richard answered without hesitation. "We got together when we were seventeen, and we never split up, even though I wouldn't have blamed her for leaving me a handful of times."

Callie looked at him questioningly.

"I was a drunk," Richard explained. "Not the violent kind, mind you, but alcoholics are always hard to live with. A workaholic, too."

Callie nodded. Luckily, she had little knowledge of alcoholism. Workaholism she was more familiar with.

Richard sighed. "I still worry about how Arizona copes with her demons. It's good she has you. She described you as quite the challenge to work for, so I'll bet you challenge her personally, too. You won't let things get bad for her again."

"What do you mean?" Callie pressed. Her assistant had always seemed to personify sunshine, so the ominous darkness in Richard's tone confused her. "Was she...depressed after Tim died or something?"

Richard nodded, looking far off into the distance as they walked. "When he died, she died a little, too. It was like she lost a leg or something. Part of her was just...gone. She didn't know how to live without him. Barb worried she was going to end things…"

Callie's eyebrows flew up.

"...but of course she didn't," Richard continued. "She wouldn't have hurt us like that. Not Arizona."

Callie was silent, processing his words.

"She seems better now, though," Richard said, his tone lighter. "You two take care of each other, don't you?"

It took Callie a while to find her voice. She thought about her relationship with Arizona—of how many times her assistant had saved her ass, had lied for her, had been a slave to her every whim…

And, suddenly, she felt bad that she had never been there for Arizona in the same way. She'd never had her back—and that never would have bothered her before. Arizona was only her assistant, after all.

But after the past two days, Callie couldn't help but see Arizona as a person, too. She was someone challenging and complex and worth getting to know.

As Callie pondered all that in silence, a speeding pick-up pulled over beside them.

"Hey!"

Callie bent her head to look through the window.

Arizona nodded at her. "Your phone is in. Want to go pick it up?"

"Oh. Right." Callie had completely forgotten about work. She turned to Richard. "Do you mind if…"

"I don't mind," Richard promised. "Y'all go have fun."

* * *

As soon as they picked up the phone, Callie checked her voicemail. "Oh my god. I have thirty-seven messages."

Arizona's hand lightly brushed her back as she led them to the car.

" _SHIT_ ," Callie swore with her phone up to her ear. "I need wifi. Is there wifi in this god-forsaken town?"

Arizona rolled her eyes. Always a drama queen. "Callie, it's the 21st century. There's wifi at my parents' house."

* * *

Back at the house, Arizona got Callie set up at the desk that sat by the window in her room. "Okay. You should have everything you need."

Callie's eyebrows furrowed. "Where are you going?"

"Carly wanted to meet up and talk," Arizona offered airily.

Something about that made Callie's stomach roll. "Oh."

"I'll be back soon," Arizona promised and headed out the door.

Callie remained in the room, alone, attempting to check her email and answer everything that seemed urgent. The wifi was unbearably slow, though, so she soon found herself looking for other means of entertainment.

She stood up and walked to the bookshelf to look at the books. She recognized the titles; they were many of the same books that sat on her own shelf at home: a dozen Norton Anthologies, some Marx, some Brecht, Rich, Pope, Sexton, Hughes…

She saw a pair of binoculars, grabbed them, and walked back to the window. She thought she might be able to spot a fisherman on the pier.

She scanned the pier, but instead of finding a fisherman, she saw straight light-brown hair. Even before she saw the woman's face, Callie knew it was Carly.

And the woman who stood inches away from her was Arizona.

* * *

"I don't mean to disrupt anything," Carly continued. "I just want you to know your options."

Arizona raised her eyebrows, and she looked at her ex in question. "My...options?"

"Yeah," Carly breathed. "I mean...before you settle down with one woman forever, shouldn't you know what all your options are?"

"What are you saying?"

Carly sighed. "You're really going to make me spell this out for you, aren't you?" When Arizona didn't answer, she continued, "I'm talking about you and me. About us. Trying again."

"Oh, Carly," Arizona pleaded, "come on. Be serious."

"I am being serious!" Carly insisted. "I know I ended things last time. And I know you feel like that was me being selfish and giving up on us when you needed me most."

Arizona sighed. "I don't feel like that." And she didn't. Not anymore, anyway.

"I just want you to know that I didn't want to leave. I wanted you to get better. And be happy. And I thought you needed to do that on your own."

Arizona shrugged, conceding, "You might have been right."

Carly smiled. "I know. And you're good now. So if you're not totally sure about you and Callie…"

Already, Arizona was shaking her head, refusing to consider the idea. "No. We're not doing this."

She backed away. To her surprise, she wasn't thinking about how she had promised Callie she'd help to save her job and keep her from deportation. All she knew at that moment was that she was committed to marrying her boss and she wasn't even dreading it.

"Arizona, please." Carly took a step forward, minimizing the newfound distance between them. "Think about it."

Arizona turned to face the water, refusing to meet her ex's eyes. She shook her head. "No."

"Come on…"

Arizona began climbing up the wooden barrier.

"Arizona…" Carly complained. "Not this again. We're not sixteen. You can't shut me out just because you're afraid to feel anything."

Arizona looked down at the other woman and pursed her lips. "I feel things. I feel plenty. Now, are you going to stop talking about this?"

Carly crossed her arms, not willing to back down.

"Because if you say one more thing about you and me or me and Callie, I'm going to jump in." She grabbed the hem of her shirt with two hands and threw it over her head to show she wasn't bluffing. "I'm warning you now."

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, with Arizona standing on the ledge, half-naked, and Carly on the pier, arms crossed. A standoff.

"Arizona, just tell me you're _sure_ about her, and I'll-"

She didn't manage to finish her thought before Arizona jumped in.

* * *

Callie watched Carly and Arizona, saw how close they stood, leaning against the wooden rail that lined the pier.

She saw how Arizona backed away. She saw how Carly moved closer.

A confrontation. It was like watching a silent movie, only she had no context and had no idea what they were saying.

And then, Callie watched as Arizona deftly hopped onto the rail. She watched as she shed her shirt. And, a minute later, she watched, entranced, as the she jumped into the blue water below.

 _What the hell?_

Before Callie even realized what she was doing, she was running outside, heading straight for the pier.

 _What happened?_ she wondered. _What's Arizona_ _doing_ _? How crazy—how_ _impulsive_ _—can she be?_

As she ran onto the pier, she found Carly, who was walking back toward land. "WHAT HAPPENED?" she demanded. She was appalled that the woman wasn't more concerned, especially after her earlier conversation with Richard about Arizona's past.

"Nothing!" Carly promised, a little taken aback by Callie's frenzy. "She's fine!"

"She jumped!"

"She just got tired of listening to me." Carly rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "It's not the first time."

Callie pushed past her, heading toward the shirt that Arizona had discarded onto the wooden deck.

Arizona, who had originally jumped out of agitation and a desire to escape, now revelled in the feel of the cool water against her hot skin. She bobbed up and down in the rippling waves.

Callie reached the spot Arizona had jumped from and leaned over the rail, looking for her below. "Arizona!"

Arizona was doing a somersault underwater and didn't hear her.

Callie climbed up onto the ledge and looked down. She spotted a few air bubbles, threw off her own shirt, and aimed in that direction as she jumped in.

A few seconds after she hit the cool water, she felt a hand clutch her forearm and felt herself being pulled up to the surface.

It was Arizona.

"Callie?" Arizona asked. _What the hell?_ "What are you _doing_?"

"What am _I_ doing?" Callie countered in disbelief. "You just jumped off a bridge!"

"It's a pier!"

"Are you crazy?" Callie demanded. "I mean, are you insane? I mean, y-y-you just jumped off a pier—and it's a tall pier—and-"

Arizona laughed. "If I'm crazy, then so are you. You jumped in after me!"

Suddenly, Callie was laughing, too. She blushed as she offered a weak defense. "Shut up."

That just made Arizona laugh harder, so Callie splashed her—hard.

"Hey!" Arizona splashed her back. "So...what? You saw me jump and then decided to save me?"

Callie shrugged, waving it off. "Well...yeah. I was worried. I wasn't sure if you were okay. And I know you would've done the same for me."

Arizona just stared at her for a second. Somehow, Callie managed to continue to surprise her. She was so much more thoughtful and complex than Arizona had given her credit for. She was this strange combination of confident and shy that anyone would have found endearing. And, as it turned out, she cared like crazy, too. No one had ever jumped in after her before.

Feeling a little awkward with the way Arizona was looking at her— _so much intensity_ —Callie shook her head, half in awe, and half-terrified. "I really can't believe you just jumped in like that."

"I used to do it all the time," Arizona assured her. She wiggled her eyebrows. "Fun, huh?"

"It was," Callie admitted.

"I never would have thought that _you_ of all people would have the guts, though," Arizona continued, "regardless of the circumstances." Her eyes found Callie's ample cleavage, and she quickly forced her eyes away. "Your bra looks like silk, and this isn't exactly the cleanest water."

Callie offered a playful shrug, and she smiled at Arizona. "Well, I'm full of surprises."

Arizona's lips curled up as she met brown eyes. "Yeah," she breathed. "You are."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to all of you who have left me sweet feedback on this story so far. It means so much to me! Keep it coming!**

* * *

As they began making their way back to the house, each woman tried not to look at the other—at the way her clothes stuck to her skin, revealing hard nipples and leaving little to the imagination.

Arizona was thoughtful and quiet, and Callie assumed she was thinking about her conversation with Carly.

"So…what did Carly want to talk about?" she finally asked.

Arizona shrugged. In fact, she hadn't even been thinking about Carly. She had been thinking about how Callie had jumped in after her. "She just wanted to put everything out there."

"Oh." Callie nodded, willing herself not to ask the obvious follow-up question: _and what did she say?_

The rest of the walk was silent and, when they got to the house, they stopped short when they saw Daniel standing in the front yard, waiting to greet them.

"I want to talk to both of you," he said in a level tone. He then led them through the house, pausing in the kitchen in front of the door to the garage. He turned to face Arizona and commanded, "Your mother's never to hear about any of this."

Inside the garage, Callie and Arizona immediately caught sight of Bailey. The woman looked up from her phone and stared at them. "I told you I'd check up on you."

Wide-eyed, Arizona turned on her father. "What did you do?"

"Well, I got a call from Ms. Bailey here, who told me that, if you were lying—and she strongly believes that you are—she would send you to prison. So I flew her out here."

"Dad…"

"Lucky for you," Bailey interrupted, "your father negotiated a deal on your behalf. Now, this offer is going to last for twenty-seconds, and I'm not going to give you another chance, so listen closely. You are going to make a statement admitting that this marriage is a sham or you are going to go to prison. You tell the truth, and you're off the hook. And she," Bailey gestured toward Callie, who gulped, "is going to go back to Canada."

Daniel looked from Callie to Arizona, who offered nothing but a blank expression.

"Take the deal!" Daniel urged.

Biting her bottom lip, Arizona shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Don't be stupid, Arizona!" Daniel chided.

Arizona ignored him. She turned to Bailey. "You want a statement?"

Bailey turned on her tape recorder.

"Here's your statement," Arizona continued in a rush. "I've been working for Callie Torres for three years. Six months ago, we started dating. We fell in love. I asked her to marry me. She said yes. That's the story." As she turned to go, she nodded at her father, imbuing her tone with venom. "I'll see you at the wedding."

She led Callie back upstairs, and they walked into the bedroom in uneasy silence.

Callie sat down on the bed. "So," she braved, "you sure about this?"

From where she stood by the window, looking outside, Arizona turned to face her. "Not really," she admitted.

"I mean, I appreciate what you've done, Arizona, but I think that-"

"Knock, knock!" came a voice outside the door. Barbara popped her head in. "Hope y'all are decent. Arizona, I need you to come with me."

"What? _Now_?"

"Yes, ma'am," Barbara insisted. When Arizona still didn't look thrilled, Barb crossed her arms. "Darlin', where do you think I've been all morning? I got you wedding dresses to try on!"

"Oh, mom…" Arizona whined.

"Nope. None of that," Barbara tisked. "I know we're foregoing most wedding traditions, but I'm still going to get you into a white dress, missy. And Callie doesn't get to see you in it till tomorrow, either."

Arizona trudged out the door. " _Fiiiiine_."

Barbara smiled lovingly at her daughter's retreating form then turned to Callie. "Sweetheart, you just sit tight, all right? You're next.

* * *

Lunch and much of the afternoon passed in a blur, and then Callie was with Barbara in the master bedroom, trying on vintage wedding dresses.

"Ooh, Callie, that's the one!" Barbara exclaimed.

Callie looked in the mirror, looking to see how the dress fit. It looked nice enough, but all she really cared about was that it was strapless, so it didn't completely suffocate her in the Alabama heat.

"What do you think?" Barbara prompted.

"It's beautiful," Callie admitted.

Barbara grinned. "You like it? _Really_?"

"I do," Callie promised.

"You know," Barbara began as she busied herself with her sewing kit. "I was thinking, if you'd like, maybe we could head your way for the holidays this year."

"Oh!" Callie replied in surprise. "That would…that would be nice. Or maybe we could come down to see you."

"Well, that would be lovely." Barbara sniffled. "I would like that very much."

"Hello?" They heard from the other side of the door. "Is it safe to come in?"

"Come on in, Richard!" Barbara called.

Richard stepped inside and hurried to shut the door behind him.

"Did you bring it?" Barbara asked.

Richard nodded, patting the pocket of his jeans.

Callie knitted her brows in confusion. "Bring what?"

"Well darlin', we want to give you something, if that's okay."

"Callie, Adele was the love of my life," Richard began. "She taught me everything I know about love: that it's a danger, that it's trusting and surrendering to another person even when you're scared. _Especially_ when you're scared," he corrected himself.

Richard paused. "We noticed that you and Arizona don't have wedding rings, and maybe they're not your style, but…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old diamond ring. "Barb and I thought you might like this."

"Richard…" Callie began. "It's beautiful, but I don't really think-"

"I'm not finished," Richard interrupted.

"Oh. Sorry."

"I gave it to the woman I loved most. I mean, we drove each other crazy, but we were crazy about each other, too. And I'd be honored to give it to the woman Arizona loves most now."

Callie looked between Barbara and Richard's expectant faces, easily reading their excitement. Attempting to find her voice, she offered, "I can't…I can't take this."

"I don't want to hear it," Richard countered. "Arizona and now you are the closest thing I have to kids. I want to give it to you. It'll make me feel like I'm part of your lives even after I'm gone. _Take it_ ," he insisted.

As Callie shook her head, she felt tears prick her eyes and cleared her throat, willing them back into her skull.

Barbara moved closer. "Are you all right, sweetheart?"

Callie took a deep breath. "I, uh…well, I, uh…" She looked up to see Barbara and Richard hovering over her, concern in their eyes.

"I'm fine," Callie assured them. "It's just…a really beautiful ring."

Richard laughed, obviously pleased. "We hoped you'd like it."

"Now, come on," Barbara cut in. "Let's get you out of that dress."

* * *

Arizona was waiting for Callie in the living room, but when Callie was done trying on dresses, she walked through the room without a word and went straight for the front door.

Arizona turned from where she sat on the couch. "Callie…?"

Callie opened the door and ran outside, not even bothering to look in her direction.

Arizona stood up, hurrying to follow after her. "Callie!"

But Callie was already gone.

Callie ran down the road, desperate to escape. Silently, she asked herself why she always ran from everything, but she was too freaked out to bother stopping to psychoanalyze herself. There was a choice to respond to stressful situations with either fight or flight, and she almost always chose flight.

She ran onto the pier, hearing her hollow footfall sound against the wood.

"Callie!" Arizona called again. "Wait up!"

Callie ran to the end of the pier and then realized she had nowhere else to go. She looked out at the water that surrounded her, resenting the fish that inhabited it and their easy, uncomplicated lives.

Finally, Arizona caught up. With her hands on her knees, catching her breath, she demanded, "Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

"I needed to get away from everybody," Callie explained.

"What's wrong?"

"It's fine!"

But Arizona wasn't going to let Callie off the hook that easily. "Callie!"

Callie ignored her.

"CALLIE!"

"I FORGOT, OKAY?" Callie exploded.

Arizona's eyebrows furrowed. "You forgot what?"

"I forgot what it was like to have a family!" Callie explained. "I've been on my own since I was twenty-two, and I forgot what it felt like to have people love you and make you breakfast and say 'Hey! We'd love to come up for the holidays,' and I say, 'Well why don't we come down and see you instead?' And give you rings! And you have all that here, and you have Carly, and I'm just screwing it up!"

"You're not screwing it up!" Arizona countered. "I agreed to this! You were there, remember? A deal's a deal."

"Your family loves you. Do you know that?"

"Of course I know that!"

"But you're still willing to put them through this?" Callie pressed.

"They're not going to find out!"

"How do you _know_ they won't find out?"

"Because you said so yourself!" Arizona reminded her.

"But what if your mom...Oh my god, if your mom finds out..." Callie shuddered. "And Richard! If he finds out, he'll have a heart attack and _DIE_ or something!"

"It's going to be fine!" Arizona insisted.

Callie felt herself panicking, and she knew it was no use trying to reel the worry in. She was too far gone. "He's gonna have a heart attack!"

"He's not going to find out!"

"And your dad's going to kill us!" Callie continued. "You said he's killed before. He's going to kill us, and Bailey's going to help! I just don't know what to do and-"

"I don't think that running away is the proper way to express your frustration!" Arizona countered, attempting to remain sane despite Callie's quickly spiraling frenzy.

"A-a-and," Callie continued, not even paying attention to her, "we're about to get married! And everything's all wrong, and my dad's supposed to be here!"

Arizona's eyes widened in surprise, and Callie continued to pace, although her pace slowed at that realization. As it turned out, that was a big part of what was bothering her.

Callie's voice was softer then. "He's supposed to be here. And I know the whole thing's just for show, but it's still a wedding, right? And my dad's supposed to walk me down the aisle, and he _can't_."

"Callie..." Arizona began.

Callie shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Rationally, I know that. I'm just _freaking out_ here. You have this whole life, and I'm _ruining_ it."

"You aren't ruining anything!"

Callie continued pacing, regaining speed.

"Hey." Arizona reached out and grabbed Callie's shoulders to force the other woman to stop moving for a second.

Callie froze and reluctantly met blue eyes.

Arizona forced a reassuring smile. "You and I…are getting married tomorrow. And it's completely consensual. And it'll all be fine. Okay?"

Callie still looked dubious, and she began to shake her head. "Ariz-"

"This is the home stretch," Arizona insisted. "We just need to make it through tomorrow. So would you _please_ relax? You freaking out isn't going to help anything. Just take a breath."

Callie obeyed. "Okay," she breathed.

"Okay." Arizona exhaled a breath of her own, relieved that _that_ was over. "Now, come on. My mom's throwing a barbecue tonight and put us in charge of the fruit salad."

Callie made a face.

Arizona offered out her hand and her most irresistible dimples. "Come on, fiancé. We've got one more day to go."

* * *

That night, as Daniel and Richard cleaned the grill, the Robbins family and their friends scattered themselves in the backyard, talking and laughing in small groups under the fairy lights and fireflies. Mosquitoes, too.

Carly walked over to Arizona, offering her another beer. "Hey," she said, a little sheepishly.

Arizona accepted the beer. "Hey."

"So…about earlier…" Carly began. "I'm sorry. If I crossed a line. But I never would have forgiven myself if I didn't say anything. I didn't want to be left with what ifs."

"Well, now you know," Arizona shrugged. "I'm done with us, Carly. I loved you, but you ended things, and I moved on. There's no going back."

Carly smiled. "I know. I get it. And you have Callie now, anyway."

Arizona nodded. "Yeah," she lied.

"We can still be friends, though, right?" Carly checked, sounding nervous.

Arizona reached out and squeezed her hand. "We'll always be friends."

* * *

Sitting alone at the picnic table, Callie frowned as she watched Carly and Arizona's interaction from the opposite side of the yard. _How's Arizona willing to go through with this when her ex so clearly still has feelings for her?_

Before she could dwell too much and throw herself back into a tizzy, Barbara interrupted her thoughts by sitting down beside her. "I want to show you something." She presented Callie with a large photo album, set it down on their laps, and opened it the first page.

"Oh my god," Callie laughed, looking at the first photograph. "Is that Arizona?"

Barbara nodded and grinned. "Yes, it is. She was the fattest baby the world's ever seen." She flipped to the next page. Arizona and Tim on Christmas. Tim attempting to ride a golden retriever. Arizona as a toddler, trying on lingerie.

Callie pointed to a photo. "What's happening here?"

"Oh," Barbara chuckled. "Daniel and Richard used to pour canned peaches into Ziploc bags and trick the kids and say they were eating slugs. Tim joined in when he got older, too. Made Arizona cry every time." She looked up and motioned her husband over. "Daniel! Git over here, will you?"

Daniel made his way toward them. "What is it, Barb?"

"Sit," Barbara insisted. "I'm showing Callie our family pictures."

The man gave in to the matriarch's request without a fight, sitting on Callie's other side. He motioned toward a photo. "That was the day she broke her arm, remember?"

"Oh, yes!" Barbara recalled. She leaned toward Callie to explain, and the three of them laughed at the story.

* * *

After a minute of watching Arizona watch Callie, Richard grabbed his glass of water and walked over to her. He stood beside her. "She's pretty special, isn't she?"

Arizona's head shot up suddenly, as if pulled out of a trance. "What?"

Richard nodded toward her fiancé. "Callie."

"Oh." Arizona paused. "Yeah. She is."

"You know how I know you two are made for each other?"

Arizona rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. Her uncle was such a romantic. "How?"

"You can't stop looking at her," Richard answered simply. "And every time you look away, her eyes find you."

There was no way _that_ could be true. "Uncle Richard…"

"I'm just saying," Richard defended. "People reveal their deepest feelings through what they do, not what they say. So I can see how much you care about her, even after all these months of you calling us and complaining about your 'she-devil' boss."

Arizona's eyes found Callie again. She watched as the woman laughed and flipped through photos with her parents, and her lips quirked up.

A second later, Callie looked up and caught her staring. They shared a silent moment, each smiling at the other.

Then, Arizona turned back to face Richard. "Can I, um, get you some more water?"

Richard chuckled. "You know damn well I can get it for myself."

Arizona looked away.

"It's all right. Don't be embarrassed. I'm going to go to talk to April."

* * *

An hour later, the party had thinned out substantially, and soon only the family remained.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to head to bed, too," Barbara decided.

She gave both Callie and Arizona a goodnight hug and kiss, and Callie melted into the older woman's arms this time rather than backing away. "Goodnight, Barbara. Thank you so much for everything."

"Oh, I haven't done anything." Barbara waved her off. "Y'all rest up. Big day tomorrow." She laughed.

Then, all that was left of the party was Callie and Arizona and a bunch of twinkly lights.

Arizona sat down on the picnic table. "You tired?"

Callie shook her head. "I know I should be, but I'm _wired_. I don't think I'd be able to fall asleep if I tried."

"Me, neither," Arizona admitted. She looked at Callie for a minute, then shifted her position so that she could lie down on the table. She patted the space beside her. "Come on."

Callie furrowed her brow, confused about why Arizona wanted her to lie on the white picnic table at ten o'clock at night. Still, she obeyed and lay down beside the other woman. She followed Arizona's eyes and looked up at the sky. The night was clear, and the stars were bright. She easily made out the Big and Little Dipper.

"I love the stars," Arizona mused.

"Me, too," Callie agreed with a sigh. "But if I start thinking about them too much, I have an existential crisis."

Arizona laughed. "I know. Imagine having a career in science and being reminded every day that you're totally insignificant. I'd rather be in denial, thank you."

"You're significant!" Callie argued, laughing.

"Oh, you know what I mean!"

"I know, I know," Callie surrendered. "In the grand scheme of things, what we did today doesn't matter. It's totally meaningless."

"Well, from the perspective of the universe, yeah," Arizona amended. "But…" She turned her head, taking in Callie's profile—her tiny freckles and charcoal eyes. "What we did today…it matters to me," she admitted quietly.

Callie turned to look at her questioningly. They lay so close that she could feel the warmth of Arizona's breath against her cheek.

Arizona's lips quirked up into a playful smile. "I mean, how you tried to save me," she clarified. "It was a valiant attempt."

Callie groaned and turned away. "You're making fun of me."

"I'm not!" Arizona instinctively reached out and touched Callie's hand to emphasize the truth in her words.

Still a little skeptical, Callie met her eyes, searching for any signs of deception.

Arizona easily held her stare. "I'm not," she swore in a whisper. Then, she confessed, "I actually did try to pull an Edna Pontellier once, you know—just swim out to the middle of the ocean and never come back."

Callie's brows shot up. So, in a way, Arizona had been prepared to kill herself. She was grateful that Richard and Barbara didn't know about it. "What happened?"

A little smugly, Arizona said, "I'm too good of a swimmer. I swam for so long that I got hungry and came back for dinner."

Callie smiled. "Well, I'm grateful for your appetite," she breathed. "Otherwise, we never would have met."

"True," Arizona hummed.

They were silent for a long moment, just staring up at the stars.

"Callie?"

"Hmm?" Callie turned her head toward her.

Arizona bit her lip. "I, um. I know you like to pretend that you don't care about anything or anyone—and you're very convincing—but you do care. I know how much you care. And…I'm actually kind of…glad I'm getting to know you." It was a small confession, but, still, she felt her cheeks grow hot.

Feeling uncomfortable with the way the conversation had turned and put _her_ in focus—especially with Arizona's face so close to hers, her eyes so intense—Callie joked, "You're glad to get to know me even though I'm a 'she-devil' and 'Satan's mistress'?"

Blue eyes remained trained on Callie, and Arizona thought about how _wrong_ she'd been. Callie may have been nearly impossible to get to know at first but, now that she knew her, Arizona realized how different Callie was from what she had seemed. She was _good_.

She offered a tiny, helpless shrug. "I think I may have spoken too soon."

* * *

As Callie and Arizona lay in bed that night (and, okay, in a sleeping bag in Arizona's case), neither woman could sleep. Every few minutes, Arizona heard Callie switch from lying on her back to lying to her side, and Callie heard the occasional tapping of fingers against a sleeping bag, revealing Arizona's anxiety.

They were back to thinking about the wedding. How strange it was that, three days before, they had been single, and now they were about to get married. In fact, they were about to commit marriage fraud.

Finally, Arizona cleared her throat and broke the silence. "When I came out to my brother," she began in a tiny voice, "he asked me if that meant that I was going to marry a chick."

Callie waited.

"And when I said 'yes,' he had this big smile," Arizona recalled in quarter-tones. "And he said 'I'm going to dance _so hard_ at your wedding.'"

Callie remained silent, waiting for Arizona to say more.

"But now it's here," Arizona continued after a long beat. "And he isn't."

After Arizona didn't continue a few seconds later, Callie managed to find her voice. "Yeah," she breathed.

"And this house just feels wrong without him," Arizona went on. "We still can't bear going into his room. Can you believe it? After ten years, my mom still doesn't know he has a stash of Playboys in his top drawer. They've probably yellowed by now."

Callie chuckled, and the sound cheered Arizona up a little.

Then she sighed. "Being here…I just keep thinking about how my mom cried herself to sleep for months after it happened," she remembered. "And about how my dad still doesn't trust me to this day. How he worries that I'm on the verge of falling apart, but that's just so he won't have to think about his own pain."

Callie exhaled a long breath.

"I just…" Arizona paused, clenching her hands together. "I want you to know that I understand what you said earlier. I know this whole wedding's a sham, but your dad and my brother are still supposed to be here. It's wrong that they aren't."

They were silent for a long time, with both women looking out at the darkness and listening to each other breathing.

Then, Callie offered, "I think I miss his hugs most. Or, well, anyone's." She gave a dark laugh, then sighed in defeat.

Arizona nodded. "Yeah. I get that." She missed her big brother giving her a bear hug after a long day.

Callie wrapped her arms around herself in a makeshift hug. She missed being held. It had been so long since she'd been close to anyone—since anyone had _wanted_ to be close to her, had been willing to break down her walls. "When I used to get worried as a kid," she continued, "he used to give me a hug and say 'Everything will be okay.'"

Arizona waited.

"I have this vivid memory of looking up at him when I was about seven years old and my grandma was in the hospital. He said 'Everything will be okay,' and I said 'Promise?' and he promised, even though he wasn't sure she'd make it through the night. From that day forward, whenever I was scared, he would promise it would be okay. And him promising would be enough." She sighed, thinking about the future that was so uncertain, so terrifying, so potentially dangerous. "No one's done that in a long time."

Unsure of how to respond, Arizona said nothing, and the quiet stretched out between them. After a few minutes, she heard Callie shift positions again, and she felt an increasing need to offer the other woman some sort of comfort.

Making a split-second decision, Arizona sat up, silently scooted out of her sleeping bag, and began edging toward the bed. She looked at Callie, who lay on her side, facing away from her.

As Callie heard footsteps approaching, she turned her head and opened her eyes, and they shone in the moonlight that streamed through the window. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Arizona didn't answer. Instead, she got into the bed and tucked herself under the blankets.

Callie felt her heart beat faster. "Arizona…?"

Arizona inched closer, and Callie felt her breath become labored as she anticipated what was coming. She didn't know what Arizona was going to do, but she sensed the woman was going to do _something_ and, according to her bodily reactions, that terrified her or thrilled her or maybe both.

With a feather-light touch, Arizona rested her palm over a soft waist and moved closer, wrapping her body around Callie's.

"Is this okay?" she breathed. She realized she was tearing down _all_ her boss's barriers that weekend and worried that, at some point, Callie may have had a limit.

Afraid to even breathe, Callie shivered—and not because she was cold. Finally, knowing she had to answer, she expelled a shaky breath. "Yeah."

Arizona inhaled black raven hair. Intuitively, she tightened her hold on the other woman, and she felt her legs hit the backs of Callie's knees. They were that close. "Everything..." She closed her eyes, suddenly feeling relaxed enough to sleep. "…will be okay," she murmured.

Callie felt her body slacken, at last surrendering to Arizona's embrace. She smiled and, abruptly heavy-eyed, she sleepily prompted, "Promise?"

Arizona nodded against the pillow, and Callie heard the matching smile in her voice. "I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to all those readers who have left feedback on this story! It means more to me than you know. I hope you like this ending!**

* * *

The next day was hot and muggy—even more so than it had been the past few days. As Arizona waited for the wedding to begin, she felt grateful that her mom had planned the event _earlier_ rather than later.

Especially after that morning—when she had woken up with her arms wrapped around Callie. She had felt like her body was on fire, and not in a bad way. Definitely not in a bad way. Still, she had hurried to get out of the room before Callie woke up. In the light of day, she felt awkward lying so close to her boss.

And, now, as her father walked her down the aisle to the front of the barn, neither he nor she looked at each other. In fact, Daniel hardly glanced at her even after he gave her the obligatory kiss on the cheek before he sat down. Even though Arizona had refused to admit it, he knew the truth about their sham marriage.

Meanwhile, Callie bounced on her toes by the door of the barn, procrastinating her own grand entrance. She had seen Bailey sitting in the audience and April at the altar. Apparently, the redhead was one of the few wedding officiants in the county. That was just her luck.

"Callie?"

Callie looked up to find Richard staring at her.

"I think it's time."

"Right." She nodded. "I, um. It's just, uh. The whole…people looking at me thing. I just-"

Richard's eyebrows shot up. "You nervous?"

Callie shrugged.

Richard offered her the crook of his arm. "Come on," he grinned. "You're part of the family now. I'll walk with you."

* * *

Callie found her place beside Arizona, and April watched as the two women shyly looked at one another. "Everyone, please be seated," she chirped, inviting the congregation to sit down.

The congregation took their seats.

"We are gathered here today," April began perkily, "to give thanks and to celebrate one of life's greatest moments. To give recognition to the beauty, honesty, and unselfish ways of Callie and Arizona's true love in front of family and friends."

Callie felt her mood begin to sour. Guilty, she gulped, feeling Bailey's and Daniel's knowing eyes searing holes in the back of her head at the words _honesty_ and _unselfish_.

"For it is their family and friends who taught Callie and Arizona to love, so it's only right that family and friends are all h-"

Hesitantly, Callie raised her hand, interrupting April's grand introduction.

April stopped short, looking at Callie in confusion. "Um, Callie?" she prompted in a whisper. "Do you have a question?"

"No."

April's eyebrows knit together. "Your hand is up."

"Oh. It's not a question," Callie clarified. "But there is something I need to say."

" _Callie_ ," Arizona warned.

"Can it wait till after?" April asked.

Callie shook her head. "No." She turned around to face the silent congregation. "Hi there." She scanned the confused faces of Arizona's family and friends. "Thank you all so much for coming out. _Thank you_. But I, uh...I have a bit of an announcement to make about the wedding. A confession, actually," she amended with a nervous laugh.

"What are you doing?" Arizona demanded.

Callie ignored her and pushed on. She had to. Because Arizona deserved a love that was _honest_ and _unselfish_. "I'm a Canadian," she confessed. "Yes, Canadian. With an expired visa who was about to be deported. And, because I didn't want to leave this wonderful country of yours, I forced Arizona here to marry me."

"Callie," Arizona warned again. "Stop it."

Callie pretended she didn't hear her. "See, Arizona has always had this extraordinary work ethic," she continued with sincerity. She looked at The Colonel. "Something I think she learned from you."

"And every day for the past three years," Callie continued, "I've watched her work harder than anyone else at our company. And I knew that if I threatened to destroy her career..." She paused. "…she would do just about anything."

Callie felt her eyes sting with regretful tears, and she took a moment to will them back into her head before admitting the selfish truth. "So I blackmailed her to come down here and lie to you. All of you. And I thought it would be easy to watch her do it. But…it wasn't."

As Callie read the disappointed faces in the crowd, she offered a small shrug. "Turns out it's not easy to ruin someone's life once you find out how amazing they are."

Then, she focused her attention on The Colonel, Barbara, and Richard. The Colonel, naturally, looked unsurprised, but it was hard for Callie to see the pain etched deep in Barbara and Richard's faces. "You have a beautiful family. Please don't let this come between you."

Daniel reached for Barbara's hand, wanting to comfort his heartbroken wife.

"This was my fault," Callie concluded.

"Callie..." Arizona breathed.

Callie finally—and reluctantly—turned to meet blue eyes. She worked to appear cool, calm, and collected, even though she knew she was seconds from bursting into tears. "Arizona, this was a business deal, and you held up your end, but now the deal is off."

As she finished, she quickly looked away, unwilling to see how much pain she had inflicted on Arizona. Instead, she excused herself as she began walking toward the door. She briefly paused in front of Arizona's family to say "I'm sorry" then moved past them, desperate to escape.

As she passed Bailey, who wore a smug smile, she prompted, "Meet me outside. You're giving me a ride back to the house to get my things, and then we're going to the airport."

* * *

Outside, the guests said their goodbyes in a hurry. They were ready to peel off their dresses and suits from their sweaty skin, and they were even more eager to escape the family drama that was surely brewing.

Indeed it was, and it was only a few minutes later that Arizona's family stood in a small circle outside, and Richard demanded, "Arizona, what were you thinking?"

Arizona looked down at her feet. "I don't...I don't know."

Barbara wiped away a tear. "Darlin', I just can't believe it. You lied to us!"

"I'm sorry!" Arizona exclaimed, too confused and on-edge to have any patience for apologizing. "I just...I need a minute, okay? I need to think." She pushed past them, already taking off her heels. Then, she began to run. And she didn't stop until she was home and upstairs in her room. _Alone_. There, she noticed the note that lay on her bed.

 _Arizona_ , it read, _You were right. This book is special. I lied because I knew publishing meant I'd lose you as an assistant, but you have an extraordinary eye, and I'll make sure we buy this before I leave. Have a wonderful life. If anyone deserves it, it's you_.

As Arizona read the letter, she didn't notice Carly standing in the doorway, watching her in silence.

"Well," Carly began after a minute, "that was...unexpected."

Arizona looked up in surprise, finally noticing her.

"You know," Carly continued playfully, "people are going to be talking about this forever. _I_ already found you unforgettable, but now everyone else does, too."

"Yeah." Arizona couldn't even muster up a smile.

Carly softened her tone and risked stepping closer. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Arizona offered a disjointed nod, indicating the truth. Then, she shook her head. "No. I just feel..." She paused. Then: "You know what the problem is?" she asked, suddenly irate. "You see, the problem is that _this woman_ is a huge pain in my ass. I mean, first, there's the whole leaving thing. I understand that. It's a sham wedding. It's kind of stressful," she acknowledged.

"But, then, she goes ahead and leaves me this _note_ ," Arizona continued, holding up the piece of paper in her hand. "Because she doesn't have the decency— _the humanity_ —to say it to my face. Three years! Three years I work with this...this _terrorist!_ And never once has she had anything nice to say to me. And then she goes and writes _this_!" She crumpled up the paper and threw it across the room.

"Arizona."

"Whatever. We had a deal! None of the rest of it matters. It's fine. I don't even care!"

"Arizona," Carly tried again. "We both know that it's not fine."

Arizona met her ex's soft, slightly mocking expression.

"And you _do_ care."

Arizona looked down at her dress, nodding to herself a little. "I know." She forced herself to breathe. "And I'm sorry. I just..." She sighed and laughed at herself a little. She knew she was acting insane. "She just makes me a little crazy."

Carly's lips curled up into a knowing smile. "I can see that." She had felt that craziness herself once. And she knew what it meant. "So...what?" she prompted, raising her eyebrows expectantly. "Are you just going to let her go?"

* * *

"So...what now?" Callie asked Bailey as they waited for their plane to Seattle to begin its ascent.

"Well," Bailey looked up from her magazine, "now that you've decided to leave voluntarily, it all becomes very...civilized. Once we land, you have twenty-four hours to head back to Canada."

Callie nodded in resignation. It struck her that that'd likely mean that she'd never see Arizona again. "That's it, huh? It's just…over?"

Bailey shrugged, already flipping through SkyMall again. "It's for the best."

* * *

Still pulling her t-shirt over her head, Arizona walked out the front door on a mission.

"Arizona, what's happening?" Daniel demanded.

"Arizona?" Barbara prompted.

Arizona kept walking, refusing to slow down. "I need to talk to her."

Daniel moved forward to block her path. "Hey. No. Why would you do that? She just left! It was the best thing she could do for you."

"Oh, Daniel," Richard began, "let her go."

Daniel ignored his friend. "I'm not going to let you do this," he maintained.

"I'm not asking your permission," Arizona countered.

"God damnit, Ariz-"

"Daniel!" Richard chided.

"Dad, please! Can you ju-"

"Arizona!" Richard shouted, but Arizona and Daniel continued yelling at each other, ignoring him. Sensing that they both were feeling too stubborn to listen, he resolved to shut them up another way. Abruptly, he put his hand over his heart and clutched his chest. "Ooh," he moaned.

Barbara was standing beside him, and she turned away from her family drama and panicked, "Richard?!"

Richard began to sink to the grass, and Barbara called, "DANIEL!"

Daniel and Arizona paused their power-struggle and hurried over, and they all worked together to lower Richard to the grass.

"I think I'm…having…a heart attack," Richard articulated between short breaths.

Arizona grabbed her mom's cell phone. "I'm calling 911."

* * *

Ten minutes later, they all sat in the rig, crowding around Richard, who lay on a stretcher with a nonrebreather mask covering his nose and mouth.

After a few minutes of silence, Richard lifted off the mask and looked between Daniel and Arizona. "You two need to stop fighting," he whispered, his voice shaky. He reached for Arizona's hand. "You'll never get along perfectly, but…you're family!" He looked at Daniel. "Promise me you'll start trusting Arizona. I know she had a hard time after Tim died, but we all did. She's happier now. And, when you _do_ worry about her, don't get angry. Just say how you feel. Even though it's hard for you."

Daniel nodded solemnly at his best friend then looked Arizona in the eye. "I promise you."

"And Arizona," Richard turned toward her, "promise me you'll work harder to be a part of this family. Even though it's hard for you to be home without Tim here. Promise me you'll come see us anyway and that you'll let us be a part of your life."

Arizona nodded. "I will," she vowed.

Barbara wrapped her arm around her daughter, rubbing her back maternally.

"Well…" Richard sighed in relief. "All right. I'm ready to die now."

"Oh, Richard…" Barbara breathed, nearly in tears.

The paramedic lowered the mask back onto his face, and Richard closed his eyes.

"Uncle Richard?" Arizona prompted after a minute. _Is he dead?_ she wondered.

Richard's eyes popped open, and he lifted the mask off his face again. He grinned. "I guess it's not time yet."

Arizona, Daniel, and Barbara all looked at him in disbelief.

Richard sat up without difficulty. "Actually, I'm feeling much better," he announced. He focused on the paramedic. "David, there's no need for y'all to take me to the hospital. Let's go to the airport instead."

"Richard, _what_?" Daniel shouted. "Are you faking a heart attack? Oh, come on!"

"Uncle Richard! Come on!" Arizona added, swatting Richard's knee in irritation. At least she and her dad were finally on the same page about _something_.

"Well, it was the only way I could get you two to shut up and get us to the airport!" Richard defended.

"Sir, you know we're not authorized to take you to the airport," the driver called from the front seat.

"James Watson, don't make me arrest you!" Richard called back.

The man laughed. "You're not the chief anymore!"

"I will always be _The Chief_!" Richard corrected. "Now, you better get us there. Stat. Don't make me call your mother."

"Yes, sir," James obeyed.

Arizona put her face in her hands. "God. You scared the hell out of me."

Richard couldn't help but laugh a little.

* * *

Once they were in the air, Bailey looked over at Callie. "Yep," she decided. "You should've just given up back in Seattle."

Callie remained silent, looking out the window and wondering where Arizona was, and whether she was relieved or angry or…

"See," Bailey continued, "I'm like Wonder Woman. I always get my man." She paused. "Or woman. I always get my man…or woman," she corrected, losing a bit of her confidence. "The point is…I'm that good."

* * *

As Arizona hurried into the airport with her family following close behind, she raced over to a desk-worker.

"Hi. I need a ticket for the plane leaving for Seattle."

"Um. Let me see what we have," the man responded, a little freaked out by Arizona's crazy eyes and the entourage behind her.

"Great," Arizona chirped. She turned toward her family. "He's checking," she explained.

They nodded. They waited.

After a minute, the man made a face. "I'm sorry, miss, but the flight to Seattle just left."

" _What?_ " Arizona questioned. "No! It can't leave!"

"I'm sorry, miss."

Arizona moped away, crestfallen, and walked out the double doors.

Daniel, Barbara, and Richard followed her outside and found her standing alone with her face in her hands.

"Arizona?" Daniel turned to his wife, perplexed and looking for answers. "What's wrong with her?"

"Callie's on that plane!" Barbara explained.

"And she didn't get to tell her!" Richard added.

Slow to catch on, Daniel pressed, "Didn't get to tell her _what_?"

"That she loves her!" Barbara exclaimed.

"So that Callie could tell Arizona that she loves her, too," Richard amended.

"But how does Arizona kno-"

"Daniel, if Callie didn't love her, she wouldn't have left," Richard explained.

Daniel was still lost. "Am I the only one not getting this?"

"Oh, Daniel!" Barbara rolled her eyes in genuine exasperation.

Richard offered, "You know what it's like to want the people you love to be happy. That's what Callie's doing. That's why she left."

"But she doesn't know that Arizona loves her, too!" Barbara added. She looked over at her silent daughter, waiting for her to contribute to the conversation.

"Oh. Right." Daniel nodded, finally understanding. Then, he looked over at Arizona, who stood about ten feet away from them with her face still in her hands, absolutely despondent. "Darlin'?" he prompted.

Arizona forced herself to look up. Her face was red and splotchy.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't know how you felt about her."

Arizona shrugged. "Neither did I," she admitted.

"Well, all right then." Daniel cleared his throat. "You know what this means."

Arizona furrowed her eyebrows.

Daniel offered a small, loving smile—the first one in a while. "We need to get you on the next plane to Seattle."

* * *

"Alex. Alex!"

Alex looked up. "What?" he sassed, knowing Callie no longer held any power over him. She was as good as gone.

"I need you to go check in with Ellis and see what else she needs me to do before I go. Can you do that?"

"Yes. Sure," he conceded.

"Great. All right. Thank you," Callie quipped. "I'll be in my office if you have any questions." She turned on her heel and headed back into the comfort of her office, where she was free of humiliation.

A few minutes later, she stood a few feet from her desk, surrounded by piles of boxes, attempting to distract herself from thoughts of Arizona with thoughts of moving. And it was then that Arizona strode in.

Callie looked up, prepared to snap at an intern, when she saw her assistant—or, well, former assistant—standing there.

She felt her heart stop beating. "Arizona," she breathed.

"Hey," Arizona panted.

Callie made a disgusted face, attempting to fall back into old habits. "Why are...why are you panting?"

"Because I've been running," Arizona explained.

"Really. From Alabama?" Callie countered sarcastically, desperate to maintain control despite how small she felt on the inside.

"I need to talk to you."

"Yeah, well..." Callie motioned to the boxes and papers scattered around her. "I don't really have time to talk. I need to catch a 5:45 to Vancouver."

"Callie."

Callie ignored her and picked up the phone, dialing an intern. "Hi. I need all these boxes to go out today. Can I trust you to do that for me? I want to make sure everythin-"

"Callie!" Arizona tried again. "Stop talking!"

Callie looked up, unable to ignore Arizona's harsh tone.

"Hang up the phone. I need to say something," Arizona insisted.

"Okay," Callie surrendered with a sigh. She spoke into the receiver. "I've gotta go." Then, she set down the phone.

"It'll just take a minute," Arizona swore.

"Fine. What?"

Arizona inhaled deeply, still trying to catch her breath, then started in: "Four days ago, I hated you. I used to dream about you getting hit by a bus. Or getting cancer. Or getting shot by a crazy gunman or something."

"Oh. Well, that's nice," Callie attempted to chuckle.

"I told you to stop talking," Arizona insisted. "It's my turn to talk." She paused, waiting for Callie to object. When she didn't, Arizona continued, "Then we had our little adventure down in Alabama, and things started to change. Things changed when we kissed. And when you told me about your family. Even when you checked me out when we were naked."

Out of the corner of her eye, Callie saw that their coworkers had gathered near her door, listening intently. She thought she saw Alex smirk.

Callie ignored him. "Well, I didn't see anything," she lied, aware of her captive audience.

"Yes, you did," Arizona argued, "but I didn't realize any of this—I didn't realize how much things changed between us—until I was standing alone. In a barn. _Wifeless_."

Callie's eyes widened. So did everyone else's, frankly, but Arizona didn't care about anyone but Callie.

"Now, you can imagine my disappointment," she continued, "when it suddenly dawned on me that the woman I love is about to be kicked out of the country."

Callie inhaled an unsteady breath, feeling the little sense of control she had slip away entirely.

"So. Callie." Arizona paused. "Marry me." She took a step forward. "Because I want you more than...anything. I want to give this a shot. And we can only do that if you're here."

Swallowing back tears, Callie began to shake her head, needing to emotionally distance herself. "Trust me. You don't really want to be with me." _How could she?_

"Yes, I do," Arizona insisted.

Callie continued shaking her head. "See, the thing is, there's a reason why I've been alone all this time. I'm comfortable that way. And I think it would just be a lot easier...if we forgot everything that happened and I just left."

"You're right," Arizona accepted. "That would be easier."

Callie nodded, both glad and saddened that her weak argument was all it took to make Arizona change her mind.

But Arizona wasn't finished. "The only problem is...I don't want easy. I want you."

Callie bit her bottom lip, choking back a relieved sob. "I'm scared," she admitted.

"Me, too," Arizona promised. And, this time, she didn't hesitate to touch Callie. She didn't hesitate to lean in. And she didn't feel self-conscious, despite the fact that they had an audience—again. She lifted her hand and threaded her fingers through raven hair, pulling the taller woman in. She heard the way Callie's breath caught in her throat at the touch, and the sound only made Arizona want her so much more.

And then Callie's hands dropped onto narrow hips, and two bodies became one as she eliminated the little space that remained between them.

Lips found lips. And then it really felt like there was no one else in the world but them.

Finally, needing oxygen, Callie was forced to pull away. Breathless, she joked, "Aren't you supposed to get down on one knee or something?"

Arizona refused to pull back even an inch. Her hands cupped Callie's cheeks, and her lips rose into a slow smile. "Is that a yes?"

Callie nodded, her eyes fixed to delicious pink lips. "Yeah," she breathed. "It's a yes."

* * *

Three days later—three days into their _official_ engagement—Callie and Arizona found themselves back in Bailey's office.

"So, let me get this right," Bailey began. "You two are engaged. Again."

Callie and Arizona nodded. "Yes."

Bailey crossed her arms. "For _real_ this time?"

Callie and Arizona turned to look at one another and couldn't help but smile, giddy. "Yes."

"What happened?" Bailey asked, genuinely curious.

"Well…" Callie reached out for the hand that lay on Arizona's lap, and Arizona promptly entwined their fingers, loving how perfectly they fit together. "Alabama happened."

Bailey turned her attention on Arizona, giving her a look, not entirely convinced. Callie, after all, didn't have the best track record when it came to honesty. She wanted to hear from the blonde, too.

Arizona merely shrugged in response, and a satisfied smile bloomed on her lips. "It's true," she vowed. "Alabama happened." She met her fiance's bright eyes and smile, and she felt herself grin. "We realized we're made for each other."


End file.
